The Vale are back on the road tomorrow as we make the trip to the DW Stadium to face Wigan Athletic with more than 1,400 Valiants in attendance.

The Valiants look to get back to winning ways following a 2-0 defeat against Northampton Town when they make the trip to Wigan Athletic's DW Stadium.

Gaffer's Thoughts

Here’s what Port Vale manager Darren Moore had to say ahead of Saturday’s trip to the North West

“Wigan probably feel like they’re in a false position with the points deduction that they had. They’ve got a good group of players and they’ve got a wonderful rhythm and a wonderful fluidity to their play, they play football really well and they’ve got good patterns. It’s a game that we know we have to get back to our very, very best levels in order to go up there and come away with anything.

"It’s another big game, a challenging game, another game that we have to approach it together, and another game that if we are to overcome that hurdle and get the right result we know we’ve got have top performances.”

The Opposition

Despite an eight-point deduction at the start of the season, Wigan Athletic are sitting comfortably in 12th position on 51 points.

They come into the game off the back of a two-game winless streak against Burton Albion and Cambridge United. In their most recent fixture, they lost 3-1 to Cambridge at the Abbey Stadium.

Wigan have enjoyed home comforts this season, winning 12 of their 21 home game at the DW Stadium. In comparison, they have only won five games out of 20 on the road. 39 of their 51 points have come at home this season.

Who’s in Charge? - Shaun Maloney

The Latics are managed by their FA Cup-winning player Shaun Maloney. The 40-year-old had a successful playing career, making over 100 appearances for Celtic, helping them get to the UEFA Cup final in 2003.

Maloney also represented Aston Villa in the Premier League throughout the 2007-08 season. The highlight of Maloney’s career came on the 11th May 2013 when he helped Wigan Athletic beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

Since retiring from playing, Maloney has been on the coaching staff at Belgium where he represented them in their delayed Euro 2020 campaign where they lost to eventual winners Italy in the Quarter Final. He was then appointed Hibernian manager in December 2021.

However, he only lasted four months before being relieved of his role following a poor run of form.

In January 2023, he returned to Wigan Athletic as manager in a tough time for Wigan with a number of off-the-field issues going on at the club. He has since helped steady the ship at the DW Stadium, winning 25 of his 68 games.

Player to Watch - Sam Tickle

The Wigan stopper has had a fantastic breakthrough season which has seen him get called for England U21s on multiple occasions.

Tickle has kept 13 clean sheets in his 41 games between the sticks and at just 22 years old, he has already impressed. He had a solid showing against Manchester United in the FA Cup where he was forced into making 12 saves to keep the scoreline down.

Another player to keep an eye out for is Martial Godo. The Wigan winger is on loan from Fulham and has eight goal involvements in the league this season coming in the form of four assists and four goals. He scored in his side's last outing when he found the net to make the scoreline 2-1 but his side couldn’t push on and conceded a third goal 15 minutes later.

Last Time We Met

Port Vale 3-2 Wigan Athletic, Saturday 16th December 2023

In one of the more entertaining games of the season, it was the Valiants who ran out winners in the reverse fixture.

Port Vale took the lead after 20 minutes when Gavin Massey’s low cross was turned home by Ethan Chislett from close range to grab him his first goal of the afternoon.

Vale’s lead was doubled two minutes before the half time break. Ollie Arblaster rolled his man before setting up Chislett who finished well from the middle of the area.

After the break, the visitors pulled a goal back when Callum Lang broke down the right side before cutting back to Chris Sze who fired into the roof of the net to get his side back into the game in the 63^rd minute. Fourteen minutes later Wigan levelled, Callum Mcmanaman did well down the right side to work space for a cross that was perfect for Charlie Wyke who volleyed home to make the scores 2-2.

After losing their lead, Vale could have easily crumbled, but they pushed to regain the lead. Moments after conceding, Alfie Devine crashed an effort off the post after being set up by Ollie Arblaster.

In the 83^rd minute, Vale made their pressure count and regained the lead through a fantastic goal from Ethan Chislett. After picking up the ball on halfway, he marauded into the Wigan half before unleashing a strike that took a deflection and looped over Sam Tickle who stood no chance in the Latics goal to secure his hat-trick and earn his side all three points.