The Valiants are back in action this Saturday as we make the trip to The Valley to take on Charlton Athletic in Sky Bet League One action.

Following an opening-day defeat, the Vale have since gone unbeaten after picking up wins against Fleetwood Town and Reading before earning a deserved point against Blackpool this past Tuesday night.

Crosby’s Comments

After picking up a hard-fought point away at Blackpool, Crosby said:

“It was a contrasting game, I thought the first half we had control in possession, and we controlled their possession how we wanted to. We thought we could counterattack from the mid-third if we could nick balls and we had a few opportunities, but we were just lacking that last pass around the edge of the box to really take advantage.

“Second half, we lacked a little bit of control, we went a little bit long too easy, too early, and they picked up a lot of second balls and we were penned back towards the end stages of the game. But the way we defended our box, the way our centre backs headed balls, our wing backs defended the back stick was really good and if we didn’t make first contact, we had midfielders covering.

“A really good point against a team who were a league above us last season with some really good players.”

When looking ahead to Charlton Athletic, Andy Crosby had this to say:

“I have a lot of respect for Dean (Holden) his journey to being a manager was similar to mine. They’ve recruited well in the summer, looked at where they were light last season and add some players and some numbers. It's a really difficult game, but one that we're prepared for, one we’re looking forward to and one we’re ready to attack.”

Opposition Focus

Charlton Athletic currently sit in 15th place in the league with three points. Their only win of the season came on the opening day when a George Dobson strike helped them a 1-0 win over newcomers Leyton Orient.  Since then, Then Addicks have suffered defeat in their last three games. More recently, they lost 2-1 to Bristol Rovers after Luke McCormick scored a dramatic 98th-minute winner for the Gas.

The Addicks are currently managed by Dean Holden who is currently in his second permanent role as a manager. Holden’s first coaching role was at Oldham Atheltic where he joined as First Team Coach in 2014 after retiring from playing football. In November 2015 he was given the role of Caretaker manager until May 2016.

He joined Bristol City in 2016 and after four years as Assistant Manager, he was given the role as Caretaker Manager in July 2020 following Lee Johnson's tenure. The next month, he was appointed as Head Coach. However, seven months later he was relieved of his duties after picking up six defeats in a row.

Holden would then go on to join Stoke City as Assistant Manager under Michael O’Neil. After O’Neil was relieved of his position in August 2022, Holden was named as Caretaker Manager before he left the club following the appointment of Alex Neil to then be appointed as the manager of Charlton Athletic on Boxing Day in 2022.

Last Season’s Meetings

Port Vale 1-0 V Charlton Athletic, Saturday 19^th November 2022

The first meeting of the 2022/23 came on Saturday 19^th November when the sides met at Vale Park. The scores were level until the hour mark when Danny Butterworth found the bottom corner from just inside the box to give the Vale the lead. The Valiants managed to hold on and earn themselves a first win in three games in what had been a tricky month so far.

Charlton Atheltic 3-2 Port Vale, Saturday 29^th April 2023

The reverse fixture happened to be the penultimate game of the season and with neither side really having anything to play for it was very much a dead rubber. Tyreece Campbell gave the hosts the lead in the 14^th minute before Jesurun Rak-Sayki doubled the Addicks lead after half time. In the 62^nd minute, James Plant scored his first professional league goal as he pulled one back. Almost immediately, Charlton restored their two-goal lead when Miles Leaburn found the net. Matty Taylor scored a 97th-minute penalty for The Valiants but it was merely a consolation as the game ended 3-2 to the hosts.

One to Watch – Alfie May

Alfie May arrived at The Valley in the summer after signing from Cheltenham Town where he spent the last three seasons. After joining in 2020 he managed to score 58 goals in his 142 appearances for The Robins, picking up the Skybet Player Of The Month award twice and earning promotion to League One in 2020.

 May began his footballing career at Millwall where he was released ages 14 for being too small. After dipping his toe in the Non-League scene, he finally settled down at Erith & Belvedere where he was able to showcase his talent. May scored 38 goals in his 45 appearances in the 2014/15 season. He managed to earn himself a trial at Crewe Alexandra. However, he was unsuccessful and ended up at Hythe Town. Whilst at Hythe his manager said he was good enough to play in the Football League, so he had a trial at Stevenage. Despite being unsuccessful again he was picked up by Doncaster Rovers where he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal in 2017. May scored his first professional goal in Feb 2017 in a 1-1 draw against Luton Town. He went on to find the net 10 times in his 92 appearances for Doncaster before moving to Cheltenham Town.

How to Watch

Tickets for the fixture are available both online and from the Club Store until 2pm this afternoon.

Tickets are available to purchase from The Valley. However, please be mindful that there is a price increase of £3 per adult ticket and £2 per concession ticket.