Salford City v Port Vale preview – Valiants aiming for a quarter-final date with Cheltenham
Salford City v Port Vale preview – both sides now know their potential next opponents should they win this delayed knock-out game.
Match Info
Venue: Pennisula stadium | Date: 20th December 2022, 7.30pm | Competition: Football League Trophy knock-out stages
Predict the score
Preamble
After the fixture was postponed on the 13th December, due to the bad weather, it was rapidly rearranged for the following Tuesday evening instead. In the meantime, the quarter-final draw was made with the winners of this tie set for a trip to Cheltenham Town in the quarter-finals.
Pre-match comments
I have to be honest, I never see it (the Football League Trophy) as a distraction. Whilst I have been at the club, we have done quite well and it has been very good to us. We have been doing quite well in the last few years, progressing into the knockout stages, having the benefit of some prize money in the group stages and this is the same. I have always said it, the EFL Trophy offers a fantastic opportunity for League One and League Two clubs to get to a Wembley final. You know we are going to go after it. You can see from the teams we have put out. Whilst we have mixed it up around the squad, they have been very strong teams and we have got the results that our play has deserved. So, we are quite rightly through in the knockout stage. We have the opportunity to go to Salford, to try to progress to the next round and keep that dream alive of getting back to Wembley which would be fantastic…
Port Vale CEO Colin Garlick
Port Vale team news
It’s a tricky one to predict the Vale team but after a free Saturday (after the Accrington game was postponed) and going on the side which was selected to defeat Barnsley in the previous round, this could be a strong Vale line-up. We’re guessing that Jack Stevens will play in goal while Ellis Harrison (pictured) and James Wilson could both feature upfront. Dennis Politic has been something of a cup specialist this season with five goals so far, so it would be no surprise if he comes into the team too. Funso Ojo, Brad Walker and Jamie Proctor all look to be sidelined with injury.
Opposition team news
The Ammies have a near-full bill of health, with long-term absentees Stevie Mallan and Liam Shephard the only players unavailable.
Form guide
The Valiants have enjoyed a strong Football League Trophy campaign so far. They’ve won four straight games and conceded just one goal in the process. Dennis Politic (pictured) is the club’s top-scorer in the competition with four goals.
The home side reached this stage with a 1-0 win over fellow League Two outfit Bradford City. Like the Valiants they have a 100% record in the competition having won all their group games – against Accrington, Rochdale and Liverpool B. Salford are set piece experts having won two of those group games via a penalty shootout.
Man in charge
The hot seat at Salford has been something of a revolving door in recent years. The current incumbent is Neil Wood who replaced Gary Bowyer in May. He has been in charge for 27 games with a 41% win ratio.
Familiar faces
There’s a few reunions on both sides.
In the Salford squad is former Vale defender Theo Vassell. The Potteries-born defender spent a year with the Valiants before moving on to Macclesfield Town. After a spell with Wrexham, he joined Salford in 2021 and has been a first-team regular since. The 25 year-old has now made over 200 senior appearances for nine clubs, including two loan spells.
In the Port Vale squad are two former Salford players in striker James Wilson and defender Dan Jones.
Wilson spent a single season with Salford, scoring nine goals before being released in 2021. He joined Vale in the summer and was top-scorer as the club won promotion last season. Jones also won promotion with Vale although he wasn’t involved in the play-off games. He spent two years with Salford before also joining the Valiants in the summer of 2021. Jones’ recent form in the back three has been praised and he was named the club’s player of the month for November. Finally, there’s Dennis Politic who has spent loan spells with both clubs and is currently in his second such spell with the Valiants.
Through the years…
The two sides first met in August 2019 when it finished in an honourable 1-1 draw with Richie Bennett scoring Vale’s first goal against Salford. Since then the sides have met a further six times with this game the second meeting in the Football League Trophy (the first finished in a 3-0 win for Salford in 2020).
Last time we met…
The Valiants were victorious on their last visit to Salford as midfielder Harry Charsley scored the winner in a 1-0 away win.
Overall record
2 Port Vale wins | 2 draws | 3 Port Vale losses
From the archives
Highlights from that first League meeting between the two sides:
A brief history of…
The club was founded as Salford Central Mission in 1940 and changed its name to Salford Central in 1947.
The club’s nickname, “The Ammies”, stems from their name from the early 1960s to the early 1970s, Salford Amateurs. They changed their name again in 1989 to Salford City.
The club won promotion to the English Football League after winning the 2019 National League play-off final, under the stewardship of Graham Alexander.
Were you paying attention?
Our traditional quiz…
- Who is the current Salford 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 Salford?
Answers below (no cheating)…
Quiz answers…
- Neil Wood
- Salford 0-1 Port Vale
- 1940
- Richie Bennett