Port Vale v Peterborough United preview – long wait over as Vale aim to impress on telly
Port Vale v Peterborough United preview – can the Valiants impress in front of the TV cameras on Monday night?
Predict the score
Preamble
After a lengthy break, the Valiants will finally be able to play their second League game of 2023. They will do so live on Sky Sports against a Posh side once again managed by Darren Ferguson…
Pre-match comments
They battered us away from home, deservedly beat us 3-0 and could – probably should from their perspective – have been more.” They are a really good side with really good individuals within their group and have yo-yoed League One to Championship for a number of years. They have just changed the manager for whatever reasons they decided, Darren (Ferguson) goes back in having had success at Peterborough before. That makes our planning a little bit more difficult in terms of what they might do, but we have to prepare for the best Peterborough team to come here and try and reignite their season. They were spoken about in pre-season to get immediate promotion back to the Championship and they may be slightly disappointed with where they currently are in the league, but they have got really, really good players and we will have to be right at the top of our game to compete and try and win the game….
Port Vale assistant manager Andy Crosby
It is something that has been said after every game we have played against the top teams, that we have made it difficult for all of them. So why can’t we be one of those teams and make other teams look at us and think we are a hard team to play against?
Port Vale midfielder Funso Ojo
We have to hit the ground running. We have to go there (to Port Vale) and try to get a win. If we do that, it will breed confidence, especially for the away form, which has been so poor – but also for the next game coming up after that…. Port Vale are a very aggressive side, they are a good pressing side and they have been very good at home in front of their own supporters. They will feel they have had a good season at this level so far after promotion last term. For us, we are focussed on this game, our away form has been poor, we need to find momentum straight away and give the players the confidence they need moving forward and three points on Monday can make a massive difference to that…
Peterborough Utd manager Darren Ferguson
Port Vale team news
Vale fans will be hoping that the break in action will have done the club good and helped in the rehabilitation of the likes of James Wilson, Dave Worrall, Will Forrester and Lewis Cass. However, the Valiants will start the match without departed duo Brad Walker (who has joined Tranmere Rovers) and Connor Hall (who has joined Colchester United).
There could be some interesting selection choices for the Vale management team. Dennis Politic impressed as a sub against Forest Green while Funso Ojo is fit and in contention.
Striker Jamie Proctor remains sidelined until later in the New Year.
Opposition team news
Peterborough have announced the loan signing of Swansea City full-back Nathanael Ogbeta and he could feature on Monday.
Posh also signed goalkeeper Will Norris on-loan until the end of the season from Burnley and he is expected to be between the sticks at Vale Park.
Form guide
The win over Forest Green means Vale have a 100% record in 2023… but over the last five games it’s been more mixed – three wins and two losses. Visitors Posh have won just once in their last eight games. That was against strugglers MK Dons in late December.
Man in charge
Familiar face Darren Ferguson rejoined the club on the 4th January for his FOURTH spell in charge. In total, he been in charge for 517 games with a 44% win ratio. The 50 year-old has also had spells with Doncaster Rovers and Preston for a career total of over 700 games as a manager.
Darren Ferguson image by Lens Envy is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Familiar faces
The Valiants skipper Tom Conlon made his professional debut for Peterborough United back in 2013 although he only made two more appearances for the club before departing for Stevenage in 2014.
The captain now has 163 appearances and nineteen goals for the Valiants.
Vintage connection
Stopper Shaun Brisley made nearly a hundred appearances for Peterborough United between 2011 and 2016. He moved to Vale Park in 2019 and made 43 appearances during a two year spell.
Through the years…
The two sides first met in 1961 when it ended in a 1-0 home defeat for the Valiants. However, Vale have a decent record at London Road in recent years having lost just once in the last three meetings. The last player to score for Vale against Posh was striker Alex Jones, who netted twice back in 2016.
Last time we met…
It finished in a disappointing 3-0 defeat at London Road for the Valiants back in September.
From the archives
In this feature, we leaf through the pages of a 1977 Port Vale programme for a match against Peterborough United.
A brief history of…
Peterborough United formed in 1934. Having won the Midland League title for five consecutive seasons, they were elected into the Football League in 1960 and immediately won the Fourth Division title in 1960–61. They secured a place in the Championship after manager Darren Ferguson led them to consecutive promotions in 2007–08 and 2008–09 and spent three of the next four seasons in the second tier. They were relegated back into League One in 2013, although they went on to win the Football League Trophy in 2014.
Were you paying attention?
Our traditional quiz…
- Who is the current Peterborough Utd manager?
- What was the score the last time the two teams met?
- In which year were the club formed?
- How many Posh appearances did Tom Conlon make?
Answers below (no cheating)…
Quiz answers…
- Darren Ferguson
- Peterborough Utd 3-0 Port Vale
- 1934
- Three