Bolton Wanderers v Port Vale preview – Valiants face tough task as they look to reverse their form

Match Info

Venue: University of Bolton stadium

Date: 25th February, 3pm

Competition: League One

Pre-match thoughts

Here’s Port Vale striker Ellis Harrison on the game:

Port Vale team news

There will be plenty of questions following the midweek loss to Morecambe. Will Vale keep faith with Aidan Stone despite criticism for his part in the winning goal – or will loanee Jack Stevens be recalled? It may make sense to keep faith with Stone as it was an isolated error during a decent return to the side and as a young Vale player, rather than a loanee, it makes more sense to give Stone gametime.

The Valiants failed to take their chances in midweek and that could also lead to changes upfront. Matty Taylor has impressed since signing in January but he may need more support. Is it time for Darrell Clarke to reconstruct his forward line at Bristol Rovers and pair Taylor with Ellis Harrison? If so, that could free Gavin Massey to return to a more natural flank position, perhaps in place of Sammy Robinson who didn’t have the best of games on Tuesday.

Form guide

The home side are in excellent form and last lost a League game at home way back in October…

Port Vale: D-L-L-W-L

Bolton: W-W-W-L-W

Familiar faces

It will be interesting to see if Dennis Politic features from the start against his former club. Politic joined Bolton at the age of 15 and made a total of 30 appearances, scoring five times. He was loaned to the Valiants in 2021 before making a permanent move to Cremonese. He returned to Burslem on loan earlier this season. The 23 year-old has seven goals for the Vale so far this season.

There’s another Bolton connection in the Vale camp. Striker Jamie Proctor spent a year with Bolton in 2016 making 29 appearances and scoring once.

Through the years…

The first game between the two sides was in 1899 and Vale had to wait until 1988 to record their first competitive win. They obviously enjoyed it so much they repeated it again the same year. It would be remiss of us not to mention Vale’s last League visit to Bolton which took place in 2020. That match ended in a remarkable 6-3 win for the Valiants with Manny Oyeleke, Leon Legge, Tom Conlon, Cristian Montano, David Worrall and Nathan Smith all on target. The highlights of that encounter are below:

Overall record

3 Port Vale wins

11 draws

26 Port Vale losses

A brief history of…

Formed as Christ Church Football Club in 1874, Bolton Wanderers adopted their current name in 1877 and were a founder member of the Football League in 1888. The period before and after WW1 is regarded as the club’s finest as they challenged in the top division. Over the years Wanderers have won four FA Cups and two League Cups.