The Valiants return to league action this weekend as we make the trip to the Mazuma Mobile Stadium to take on Morecambe.
Darren Moore’s side will be backed by more than 1,300 Valiants as we look to get back to winning ways in the league.
The Valiants come into the game off the back of a penalty shootout victory against Wrexham AFC in midweek. After ninety minutes, the game ended 1-1 before Ben Amos saved three penalties to help his side secure an extra point in Group B.
On Saturday, Vale’s five-game win streak in the league came to an end as we were beaten 1-0 by Gillingham. We’ll be looking to get back to winning ways in Saturday’s top-versus-bottom clash against Morecambe.
Gaffer's Thoughts
Here’s what Darren Moore had to say ahead of Saturday’s fixture:
“Saturdays game will be a completely different game to what we witnessed at the Priestfield Stadium last weekend and we’ve got to be ready for it.”
“We’ve done our work on them, they’ve got a really experienced manager in Derek Adams. They got a good result at Harrogate last week which is a difficult place to go.”
“Both teams go head-to-head on Saturday and we’re looking forward to it. But again, it’s a different game, it’ll take different parts of us as a team to make sure that we are getting it right in possession, and certainly out of possession because they do pose a threat. We’ll work together as a group this week; we’ll assess the boys that played on Tuesday night and then we’ll formulate a team to go to Morecambe and get those three points.”
The Opposition
Morecambe currently sit at the bottom of the league with ten points from 15 games. In their last league outing they picked up their second victory of the season thanks for a 96th minute winner from Harvey Macadam which helped the Shrimpers win 2-1.
This was their first league win after three losses in a row since a shock 1-0 win against Barrow on the 12th October.
At home, Morecambe are yet to win a game. They have lost four and drawn three of their seven games at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium. In these games they have scored eight goals and conceded fifteen
Who’s in Charge?
Morecambe are managed by Derek Adams who is in his third spell at the football club. Adams rejoined the club in the summer following the departure of Gerard Brannan.
As previously mentioned, this is Adams’ third spell at the club. In his previous stints at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium, Adams helped Morecambe gain promotion from League Two in the 2020/21 season when they went up via the Play-Offs.
Player to watch
Ben Tollit has been the standout player for the Shrimpers this season. The 29-year-old attacking midfielder has six goals and three assists in twenty games in all competitions this season. After four seasons in the National League, Tollit has returned to the EFL and has had a productive season to date.
Premier League winner, Rhys Williams is also at Morecambe. The 23-year-old joined on loan in the summer and has played 12 games, scoring one goal and keeping two clean sheets.
Valiants will remember that we signed Williams on-loan from Liverpool last season. However, the loan lasted just fifteen days after he picked up an injury and was sent back to Liverpool without playing for the club.
Another former Valiant in the Morecambe side is Jordan Slew. The forward played nine games for Vale back in 2014 and scored two goals whilst at the club.
Fixture Throwback
Morecambe 0-3 Port Vale, Tuesday 17 October 2017
The Valiants have failed to win at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium in our last four attempts. The last time we came home with all three points was back in 2017 when a Tom Pope brace helped us to a 3-0 victory.
Pope’s first goal came in the 18th minute when he headed home Ben Whitfield’s cross from the left side. Vale’s lead was doubled in the 67th minute when the ball fell to feet of Pope in the before the Vale forward danced his way past three Morecambe defenders and dinked the keeper to grab his second goal of the game.
The icing on the cake came in the 90th minute when Cristian Montano turned home Pope’s low cross to seal all three points for the Valiants.
