Port Vale kick off their Vertu Trophy campaign as they host Leeds United U21s at Vale Park.
Darren Moore’s side comes into this game off the back of a narrow defeat away at Reading, thanks to a goal from Paddy Lane.
Last season, the Valiants made it to the Round of Sixteen of the Vertu Trophy, where they were beaten by Wrexham at Vale Park.
Post-Reading Thoughts
The Gaffer’s reaction to the Reading defeat:
“Just a disappointing performance, a disappointing result, so we got what we deserved today, which was nothing.
“I just said to the lads, looking at the group, they just weren’t able to recover from the heroics from the week. Same group of players, but just couldn’t get to the levels that was expected today.
“Self-inflicted again, we give the ball away and another player doesn’t recover back into the position he should do.”
About Leeds United U21s
The Leeds U21s play their games at Thorp Arch Grange, which is based within the Leeds United training complex. The visitors have made a good start to their Premier League 2 campaign, picking up two wins from their first three fixtures. Their only defeat of the season so far was a narrow 3-2 home loss to Ipswich Academy.
The Opposition Dugout
Scott Gardner is the man in charge of the Lilywhites. Scott started his managerial career at Leeds United with the U18s and spent three years in that role. He was appointed manager of the U21s at the start of 2024 and has gone on to take charge of 38 matches to this point.
Gardner had a four-year playing career between 2007 and 2011, where he spent time at Leeds, Mansfield and Eastwood Town.
Player to Watch
Harry Gray is definitely a player to keep an eye on when the two sides meet on Tuesday. Harry is the younger brother of Archie Gray and is tipped to have a big future ahead of him.
He has featured for the England U15, U16 and U17 sides and made his Championship debut for Leeds First Team last season. Harry scored five goals in ten appearances last season for the U21s and has started this season well, scoring three goals in four games.
