The Valiants look to make it four league wins on the bounce as they host Northampton Town at Vale Park on Saturday
Vale come into the game against Northampton off the back of a fantastic away win at Barnsley. Over 1,000 Valiants made the trip to Yorkshire and were rewarded with a 2-0 win.
Jordan Gabriel opened his account just gone the hour mark before Ryan Croasdale wrapped up all three points with a brilliant strike a minute before time.
Post Barnsley Thoughts
“We thought as the game wore on, we had the better chances in the game, and it was about capitalising on them, and we managed to get those two goals in the second half.
“A really good team in Barnsley, we knew it was a difficult game. As the game went on, we were able to throw more caution to the wind, and we knew one or two chances would come”.
Press Conference Takeaways
Jesse Debrah gave his thoughts regarding the Northampton fixture
“There’s no guarantee of winning any game in this league, just look at the Cardiff result the other night.
“Home form is important; no one wants to come to Vale Park. People have said to me after games that the pitch is massive, and the fans are loud.”
Our Opponents
Northampton is a town in the East Midlands, which is situated on the River Nene and famous for its long history as the Home of Fine English Shoes. The away fans will travel close to 100 miles on Saturday to watch their team at Vale Park. The Cobblers have been going back and forth between League Two and League One for the past ten years, but now seem to have solidified their position in the third tier. Northampton’s most recent piece of silverware came in 2016 as they were crowned League Two champions, finishing on an impressive 99 points.
The Midlands side made a poor start to the season, with them not winning any of their opening five league games. However, since then, their first victory of the season over Exeter, they have only dropped points on one occasion, making them the most inform team in the league. They come into this game following a 2-0 win over Bolton, with Cameron McGeehan and Sam Hoskins scoring the goals.
The Opposition Dugout
Kevin Nolan is the man in charge at Northampton Town. The Englishman was appointed manager in December 2024 following the sacking of Jon Brady. Kevin spent just under four years at West Ham United as assistant manager before this and was a part of David Moyes’ coaching staff that won the UEFA Conference League in 2023.
Before stepping up into management, Nolan had a seventeen-year playing career, which started at Bolton Wanderers and finished at Notts County. The former midfielder made 194 appearances for Bolton, scoring on 31 occasions. Kevin became famous for his chicken dance celebration whenever he scored. After spending ten years at Bolton, Nolan made the move up north to Newcastle United, where he stayed for over two years, before signing for West Ham in 2011.
Player to Watch
Dean Campbell is a player for Vale fans to keep an eye out for on Saturday. The midfielder has put in some solid performances throughout the season and has contributed two assists as well. Dean signed for Town in the summer window, making the move from Barrow.
Fixture Throwback
Port Vale 2-0 Northampton Town, 15th September 2018
Vale have a decent record against Saturday’s visitors, with one of the victories being in 2018 when Neil Aspin was in charge.
Aspin’s Valiants took the lead midway through the first half at Vale Park. Ben Whitfield cut inside from the right and unleashed an effort on his left foot from range that found the bottom corner.
Northampton were reduced to ten men on the hour mark, with now Premier League referee Thomas Bramall, brandishing a red card to Aaron Pierre. Emmanuel Oyeleke doubled Vale’s advantage with twenty minutes to play. After a neat one-two with Tom Pope, the midfielder finished brilliantly into the top corner.
