Club football returns on Saturday after the international break and the Valiants face a trip to the Lamex Stadium to take on Stevenage.
The Vale were last in action almost ten days ago when we faced Newcastle United U21s in the EFL Trophy. Jesse Debrah scored his first goal for the club in the 17th minute before Ellis Stanton fired home a strike from 25 yards to the visitors a draw but it was Vale who picked up two points after a 3-2 penalty shootout victory.
Crosby’s comments
Here is what the gaffer had to say ahead of tomorrow’s fixture:
“We haven’t gone away from the basics of the game. The basics of the game will never change. You’ve got to run, you’ve got to win duels, you’ve got to challenge, you’ve got to sweat, and I think we’ve been doing those things. There’s some things that we haven’t been getting quite right at both ends of the pitch where games are both won and lost”
“We’re pleased with lots of things we’re doing. We’re a group that’s come together at the start of July and we’re trying to progress in a different way to what the football club has worked before, certainly with the ball. There’s going to be bumps in the roads, but I’m pleased with how we’re getting from one box to another. But for how we win games we need to be more effective in the final third”
The Opposition
Stevenage have made an excellent start to life back in League One. They currently sit in 5th place in the table on 21 points from their opening 13 games. Despite their bright start, they have only won one of their last five games in all competitions. In their most recent fixture, they were beaten 3-0 at Blackpool.
The Boro are managed by experienced manager Steve Evans who joined the club in March 2022 with the club sitting three points above the relegation zone. Evans managed to guide the club to safety with three games remaining of the season. In the following season, Stevenage won ten of their first thirteen fixtures in all competitions, earning them a place at the top of the league and an FA Cup Third Round trip to Villa Park where they came from 1-0 down to beat Aston Villa 2-1 in a historic afternoon for the club. After a successful season, Stevenage finished 2nd in the league on 85 points which saw the club earn promotion to League One.
Player to Watch – Jamie Reed
The Stevenage forward has already found the net on 8 occasions this season, only Devante Cole has scored more league goals than Reed so far. The 29-year-old strike began his career at Exeter where he had five loans in his five-year spell at the Grecians. Three of these loans were at Torquay United and in 2017 he made the permanent move to Plainmoor where he would go on to make over 100 appearances for The Gulls. In the 2018/19 Season, Reid went on to score 32 goals in a promotion season for Torquay, receiving the club's Player of the Year Award and the Golden Boot, Reed was also named as the National League’s Player of the Season, Top Scorer and he was named in the Team of the Season.
This fantastic season earned him a move to Mansfield Town where he scored 6 goals in 39 games for The Stags. In July 2021, Reed made the move to Stevenage where he has since played 94 games, scoring 25 goals in all competitions so far.
Last Time We Met
Port Vale 2-0 Stevenage, Saturday 26th February 2022.
The Vale got off to the best possible start when we took the lead after just six minutes. James Gibbons’ freekick from the left was guided into the net by Stevenage right back Luke O’Neil. Six minutes later it was 2-0 and it was Gibbons with the assist again. His low cross was met by Ryan Edmondson who was on hand to finish well and double Vale’s lead inside fifteen minutes. David Amoo came close in the second half with a header as the Vale walked away with all three points.
Fixture Throwback
Stevenage 0-1 Port Vale, Saturday 11th January 2020.
We have to go back to a cold January afternoon in 2020 for our last victory at the Lamex Stadium. Vale started the brighter of the two teams and had the first effort of the game when David Worrall forced a good save from Paul Farman when he took aim from the edge of the area. Soon after, Scott Brown made a good save from Kurtis Guthrie’s close-range effort.
In the second half, Tom Conlon curled a freekick over the wall but Farman got across to palmed the effort around the post. The best chance of the game fell to Worrall when he met David Amoo’s cross at the back post but scuffed his effort just wide of the goal. In the 88th minute, Vale were awarded a penalty when Conlon had his shirt pulled in the box. Tom Pope stepped up and made no mistake to earn Vale all three points in Hertfordshire.