Darren Moore’s Valiants take the trip down the M6 as they face Birmingham City in the Second Round of the Carabao Cup.
The Vale come into the game following a narrow defeat on Saturday to Doncaster Rovers, where an Owen Bailey goal saw the visitors take all three points.
Last time out in the Carabao Cup, Vale travelled to Blackpool and progressed thanks to a towering Mo Faal header on his debut.
Post Doncaster Thoughts
The Gaffer's reaction to Saturday’s result:
“My thoughts are another good game this afternoon, a tough game, but a game I thought in parts we had the impetus and should’ve gone in a goal to the good, maybe two.
“Second half, we didn’t really get going for whatever reason, and the game just ebbed and flowed, without us really doing much.
“Disappointing, three points dropped here today after being in control, certainly in the first half.”
The boss also mentioned the upcoming game at Birmingham:
“We’ve got a different game on Tuesday, a cup match that we have to get ready for because the games are coming thick and fast”.
About Birmingham City
Birmingham is located in the West Midlands, around an hour from Vale Park. The Valiants will be playing at the famous St. Andrew’s stadium, which has a capacity of over 29,000. The Blues were promoted from League One last season.
The hosts have made an unbeaten start to the Championship season, drawing their first game and winning the next two. In the first round of the Carabao Cup, Birmingham faced off against fellow Championship side Sheffield United. A game in which Jay Stansfield scored a late winner to send Birmingham through.
The Opposition Dugout
The man in charge of the Blues is Chris Davies, who joined the club in 2024 from Leicester City, where he was an assistant coach for four years. During his time at Leicester, Chris contributed to their FA Cup success and the subsequent Community Shield victory.
Davies has an impressive record during his time so far as Birmingham manager, having a 73% win percentage rate. In his first season as boss, Chris guided Birmingham to the League One title, finishing on 111 points, only losing three games.
Player to Watch
Jay Stansfield has been Birmingham’s main man in recent seasons, finishing last campaign with nineteen goals, the second-most in League One. He has started this season in similar fashion, scoring two goals in his side's opening three Championship matches.
Fixture Throwback
Birmingham City 1-2 Port Vale, 23rd February 1997
The last time the Valiants beat Birmingham on their own turf was back in 1997.
The home side took the lead with eight minutes on the clock through a penalty kick which was converted by Paul Devlin. Birmingham’s lead didn’t last for long, though, as Vale equalised seven minutes later. A tremendous strike from Andy Porter, eighteen yards out, got John Rudge’s side on level terms.
The winning goal of the game came in the 54th minute. An in-swinging corner from the right was glanced into the net by Dean Glover, and Vale left with all three points.
