Port Vale have the chance to pick up back to back league wins and make it three wins on the bounce in all competitions, when they welcome Colchester United to Vale Park. You can find all of the key information regarding the game, below.
Fixture: Port Vale vs Colchester United
Competition: Sky Bet League Two
Date: Saturday 12th December
Kick-Off: 3:00 pm
Venue: Vale Park
Referee: Christopher Sarginson
Port Vale
Manager: John Askey
Form: LLLLW
Top Goal Scorer: Rodney, Conlon, Montano, Legge (3 Goals)
The Valiants have started the month in emphatic fashion, picking up an important three points against a Bolton Wanderers side who were unbeaten in their last five heading into the fixture before advancing to the last-16 of the Papa John’s Trophy thanks to a 2-1 win over the Wolves under-21’s.
The win at the University of Bolton Stadium was the first time the Valiants had scored six goals on the road in the league since a trip to Fulham in 1987, so the Vale will be looking to keep their free-scoring form going against the U’s and repeat their success from Colchester’s last visit to Vale Park where a Mark Cullen brace and Tom Conlon effort secured a 3-0 win.
John Askey will be without both Mark Cullen and James Gibbons for the game as they remain sidelined with injuries, but other than that the gaffer has a fully fit squad to choose from.
“It doesn’t matter who you play, that was proved against Bolton, Bolton were flying, we beat them 6-3 and it could’ve been a lot more.”
John Askey, Port Vale Manager
Colchester United
Manager: Steve Ball
Form: DLDWW
Top Goal Scorer: Jevani Brown (8 Goals)
Colchester have bounced back from a couple of recent poor results including a 6-1 defeat away at Exeter City, by securing back to back league wins against Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United heading into tomorrow’s fixture,
The U’s have had a relatively strong start to the season however, leaving them sat sixth in the table, although a victory for the Vale could see them join Colchester in the Play-Off spots and just two points off their opponents.
One to watch: Jevani Brown
Brown started out his career at MK Dons before moving to Peterborough United at a young age, where he rose through the youth ranks with impressive displays and broke into the first-team squad in the 2013/14 season before being released due to an off-field incident.
The Jamaican forward began to work his way back into the game through non-league football and found game time at Kettering Town, Stamford and St Neots Town before joining Cambridge United in 2017.
Brown made his Cambridge debut off the bench, replacing David Amoo against Bristol Rovers and went on to score 13 times for the U’s before signing for Colchester in 2019 where he made his debut against Port Vale in August of that year.
After a loan to Forest Green Rovers in January of this year, Brown has found his feet at Colchester and has taken this storm by storm with impressive form in front of goal, netting 11 times in 19 appearances across all competitions so far this season, and winning the November Player Of The Month Award for League Two.
Talk:
John Askey: “It’s on the day, obviously Colchester will come here confident, but we should take a lot of confidence out of our performance last Saturday.”
Steve Ball: “It’s a freaky division and I’ve always said anybody beats anybody on any day and obviously Port Vale will be a real threat with what they have.”
Coverage:
iFollow The Vale will be providing full 90-minute coverage of the match for all domestic supporters, whilst the Port Vale Twitter and Facebook feeds will be providing live updates for the entirety.
To purchase an iFollow match pass click here.
There will also be the build-up to the game with the official Snapchat and Instagram accounts: @officialpvfc
Reaction will be available on the website post-match, as well as on YouTube, iFollow and our official social media channels.