Port Vale make the 200-mile trip south as they face Exeter City in Sky Bet League One.
The Valiants come into the game against Exeter off the back of last Saturday’s defeat against Leyton Orient, where a stoppage time winner from Charlie Wellens saw the visitors steal all three points.
Post-Leyton Orient Thoughts
Darren Moore’s reaction to Saturday’s defeat:
“I feel for them (the players), they’ve put so much into the game, and nobody knocks the spirit, the endeavour that they’re showing”
“At certain times, we just need some calm heads on the pitch, and that was lacking today.”
Press Conference Takeaways
Here’s what Ryan Croasdale had to say regarding the trip to Exeter:
“They’ll (Exeter) be lively, quick restarts, we just make sure we take our jobs into account and do our jobs and hopefully it’ll be a good day for us”.
The Gaffer also gave his thoughts:
“Gary’s been there some time and he’s doing fantastic work there. They’ve started the season hot and cold, probably from their angle.”
“A real good footballing team, a real busy team, a real lively team, but also they’ve got the ability to go from back to front.”
About Exeter City
Exeter is located in the South West region of England, in the county of Devon. The Vale faithful will travel close to four hours to see their team play on Saturday. Exeter have been in League One since their promotion from League Two in 2022, the same season in which Vale also won promotion via the Play Offs.
The Grecians have made a mediocre start to the season, as they sit on nine points with seven games played. The three wins they have picked up this season did come against Blackpool, Wycombe and Peterborough, all of which were tipped for promotion at the start of the season.
The Opposition Dugout
Gary Caldwell is the man in charge at Exeter. Caldwell was appointed as manager in 2022 and has gone on to take charge of 150 games to this point. Before making the move to Exeter, Caldwell was working in his native country, Scotland, where he was assistant manager of Hibernian.
Gary was also a player before his managerial days. He spent his early playing career with Newcastle United, but spent the majority of his time out on loan. Caldwell is a two time Scottish Premier League champion with Celtic and was part of the Wigan side that beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final back in 2013.
Player to Watch
Striker, John Magennis, is a player to keep an eye on. He is Exeter’s top scorer this season so far, netting three times in the opening seven games. Magennis had a steady campaign with Exeter last season also, scoring six goals and contributing to three assists.
Fixture Throwback
Exeter City 0-1 Port Vale, December 9th 2023
The last time the Valiants won at Exeter was in December 2023, when an Ollie Arblaster goal gave Vale all three points.
Arblaster opened the scoring with twenty-nine minutes on the clock. A Vale corner was flicked on at the front post by Ben Garrity into the path of Arblaster, who volleyed the ball into an empty net.
Uche Ikpeazu had a great opportunity to double the lead in the second half, but his curling attempt was well saved by the Grecians goalkeeper. The hosts were reduced to ten men in stoppage time, with Will Aimson being shown a second yellow card for hauling Ikpeazu down on the counter attack.
