The Valiants welcome Yorkshire side Barnsley to ST6 on Tuesday evening, looking to secure back-to-back league wins.
Jon Brady’s side comes into Tuesday’s game following a 1-0 win over Rotherham United last Tuesday. A beautiful strike from Ryan Croasdale six minutes into the game was all that separated the two sides.
Vale and Barnsley have already met twice this season, with the Valiants getting the better of their opponents 2-0 in September at Oakwell and then 5-0 in the Vertu Trophy in December.
Post-Rotherham Thoughts
“It was a positive result. I thought we were good in some areas, the way we broke through George Hall, especially down the right-hand side.”
Our Opponents
The Reds have spent the last fifteen years between League One and the Championship, but have been stuck in League One since their relegation from the second tier in 2022. They did reach the League One Play Off final in 2023 but went on to lose in the final to Sheffield Wednesday. Barnsley do have experience of playing in England’s top flight following their promotion from the First Division in 1997; however, their time in the Premier League only lasted a season as they finished 19th in the league.
Hourihane’s side currently sit in 14th position in League One, comfortably above the relegation zone, but too far adrift of the play-off positions. Barnsley have struggled to gather any momentum this season, with them having an almost identical win, draw and loss record. Tuesday’s visitors come into this game off the back of a 3-1 win over Rotherham United on Saturday.
The Opposition Dugout
Conor Hourihane is the man in charge at Barnsley. This is the thirty-five-year-old's first managerial role following his retirement from playing in 2024. He did have a short spell as Assistant Manager at Barnsley with former Vale boss Darrell Clarke, before taking the role himself when Clarke was sacked.
Since being appointed on a permanent basis, Hourihane has won twenty-one of his sixty matches with a win percentage of 35%. His biggest of these wins came in November as he led his side to a 5-0 stuffing of Luton Town.
Player to Watch
A player for Vale fans to be aware of on Tuesday is former Valiant David McGoldrick.
McGoldrick is his side’s top scorer this season with an impressive fifteen goals, whilst also contributing with three assists. The striker is currently in good scoring form, having netted six times in his last nine games.
Fixture Throwback
Port Vale 2-1 Barnsley, 23rd November 2022
Despite beating Barnsley 5-0 earlier this season, the Valiants don’t have a great record at home against the Tykes, only beating them on three of the last seven occasions. One of these victories came over three years ago when the sides met in an EFL Trophy match.
Even though the visitors had the first opportunity of the game, it was Vale who took the lead with a quarter of an hour played. Dennis Politic was played in behind the Barnsley defence before firing an effort into the top left corner, leaving the keeper with no chance.
Darrell Clarke’s side doubled their lead as the game approached the thirty-minute mark. After some neat interplay around the Barnsley penalty box, Dennis Politic turned provider and played a ball across the box to David Worrall, who slotted the ball home into an empty net.
The Yorkshire outfit did grab a goal back in the second half as Tom Edwards’ long-range effort found the back of the net via a deflection, but Vale held on and secured the win.
