Port Vale v Morecambe preview – can Valiants prevail in festive fixture?
Port Vale v Morecambe preview – the Valiants host Morecambe for this Boxing Day fixture.
Match Info
Venue: Vale Park stadium | Date: 26th December 2022, 7.30pm | Competition: League One
Predict the score
Preamble
OK, it’s not the most glamorous of Boxing Day fixtures but Morecambe are sure to provide a tough test for the Valiants even though they are currently on a poor run of form. Away from the match, look out for the 50/50 draw sellers as there are loads of bonus prizes for this fixture.
Pre-match comments
We have come back from bad performances already this season; we have had good reactions but we need to stop it from happening, so we are not having to make reactions. We need to stay consistent and we will be on the training pitch working hard towards Boxing Day…
Port Vale defender Connor Hall
We are frustrated (by the loss to Salford) and the group know that, which is good, and the only way to get back to hitting the standards is to get back to working hard on the training pitch to make sure the performances pick up, and they will do. We are in a healthy position in the table and we are looking forward to regrouping and moving forward…
Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke
I understand why people say the Christmas period is an important one but, for me, every period of the season is important. We would, of course, like to win all the games and take ourselves out of the bottom four by the New Year but we have to think about the wider picture…
Morecambe manager Derek Adams
Port Vale team news
The Valiants are likely to bring Jack Stevens back in goal after he was left out of the Football League Trophy defeat to Salford City in midweek. It’s expected that James Wilson and Ellis Harrison will continue upfront but there could be changes elsewhere in the side. The forward support for Wilson and Harrison appears to be a toss-up between Dan Butterworth and Dennis Politic and the Romanian’s enterprising performance as a sub could give him the edge. Another sub, Rory Holden, also put a decent display from the bench and may also be pushing for a starting place.
Opposition team news
Ash Hunter and Courtney Duffus both remain on the injury list for the visitors. Former Valiant Jake Taylor dropped out of the starting eleven for Morecambe’s last game – a defeat to Plymouth.
Form guide
The visitors are in a really poor run of form at the moment as its ten League and Cup games since their last win. They last won away in the League back in September when they defeated Forest Green Rovers.
The Valiants have also suffered a dip with two defeats in League and Cup. However, those losses came after a run of three straight wins.
Man in charge
Derek Adams returned for a second spell after an unhappy time at Bradford City. The 47 year-old hasn’t had the best of times though with a win ratio of just 14% from 42 games in charge. That’s in stark contrast to his first spell which saw him record a win ratio of 43% from 79 games.
Familiar faces
The Valiants could come up against former midfielder Jake Taylor who left the club in the summer to move to Morecambe. The former Nottingham Forest youngster had a highly successful loan spell with the Valiants before making a permanent switch in January 2021. Taylor played in Vale’s play-off final victory over Mansfield Town and made 56 appearances, scoring nine times.
He has made eighteen appearances for Morecambe this season without finding the net.
Through the years…
The two sides first met in a 2007 Football League Trophy game which finished in shootout win for Morecambe. The somewhat unlikely scorer of Vale’s first-ever goal against Morecambe is defender Justin Miller with Luke Rodgers (pictured) scoring Vale’s second as it finished 2-2 in normal time.
The Valiants have won their last two home fixtures against Morecambe.
Last time we met…
It finished as a 1-0 home win for the Valiants thanks to a winning goal from defender Nathan Smith. The match was played in April 2021.
Overall record
7 Port Vale wins | 5 draws | 8 Port Vale losses
From the archives
Highlights from that first League meeting between the two sides:
A brief history of…
Morecambe FC was founded in 1920. They reached the Conference in 1995. Having been beaten in the 2003 and 2006 play-off semi-finals, Sammy McIlroy led the club to promotion into the Football League with victory in the 2007 play-off Final. In 2021 they reached the 2021 League Two play-off Final and achieved a first promotion to League One.
Were you paying attention?
Our traditional quiz…
- Who is the current Morecambe manager?
- What was the score the last time the two teams met?
- In which year were the club formed?
- Who scored Port Vale’s first competitive goal against Morecambe?
Answers below (no cheating)…
Quiz answers…
- Derek Adams
- Port Vale 1-0 Morecambe
- 1940
- Justin Miller