The Valiants return to Vale Park on Tuesday evening as they welcome Stevenage to ST6.
Vale come into this game off the back of Saturday's 0-0 draw with Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium.
Darren Moore's dominated the early stages of the game in Burton, but were reduced to ten men after George Byers was sent off with fifteen minutes on the clock. What followed was a closely contested match, with Ronan Curtis going close in the second half and Marko Marosi making two important saves to deny the hosts.
Post-Burton Thoughts
Here’s what Darren Moore said about Saturday’s result:
“Credit to the players to come through 80-odd minutes with ten men in a game where we had to face a little bit of adversity in terms of the re-adjustment to the sending off.
“The most important thing is that we didn’t give Burton much to hang their hat on this afternoon, with a wonderful team display off the ball.
"Credit to the supporters for playing their part, for driving us on. The way the supporters applauded every challenge, every block, every tackle, so credit to them all and I thank them very much.”
About Stevenage
The Boro have been in League One since 2023, following their promotion from League Two in the previous season. They were unfortunate not to achieve a playoff spot in their first season in League One, finishing five points behind sixth place.
Stevenage have made a perfect start to the season, winning all three of their opening games, beating Northampton, Rotherham and Blackpool.
The Opposition Dugout
Alex Revell is the man in charge of Stevenage. He was appointed permanent manager in May 2024 following a stint as caretaker manager at the club.
This is the 42-year-old Englishman’s first managerial job after his eighteen-year playing career came to an end in 2020. Revell started his playing career with Cambridge United’s youth system before making the move to the EFL with Southend United. The former striker would go on to play for ten different clubs throughout England’s top four leagues, making 568 appearances whilst scoring 115 goals.
Player to Watch
Attacking midfielder Dan Kemp is certainly a player to keep an eye on for the visitors. Boro’s number ten has started the season brightly, contributing to three goals in as many matches, picking up where he left off last season. Last season, the playmaker got ten goals and four assists for Stevenage and has started the season in even better form.
Fixture Throwback
Port Vale 2-0 Stevenage, February 26th 2022
The last time Vale beat Stevenage was back in 2022, when an own goal from Luke O’Neill and a Ryan Edmondson strike gave the Valiants all three points.
The opening goal came six minutes into the game. A wicked delivery from James Gibbons on the left-hand side was turned into his own net by retreating defender Luke O’Neill.
Six minutes later, Vale doubled their lead. It was Gibbons again causing problems down the left side and this time his cross was met by Ryan Edmondson, who buried his effort into the bottom corner.
