Port Vale
Sky Bet League 1
Saturday 14th December 2013
Vale Park, Hamil Road, Burslem, Stoke on Trent, ST6 1AW
Kick Off: 3pm
Referee: Geoff Eltringham (County Durham)
Weather forecast: Light rain, 9°c
Last time we met:
Lawrie Wilson’s 72nd winner gave Boro all three points at home to Port Vale in the last meeting between the two sides in April 2011. The hosts went close through John Mousinho and Michael Bostwick before Robert Taylor's stinging effort forced a good save from Boro keeper Chris Day. Wilson gave Stevenage the lead when he fired in after Craig Reid's initial shot was blocked. Vale searched in vain for an equaliser with both Justin Richards and Lee Collins unable to hit the target.
Boro: Day, Henry, Roberts, Ashton, Laird, Wilson (Charles), Mousinho, Bostwick, Sinclair (Foster), Beardsley (Reid), Harrison
Subs not used: Welch, Byrom, Bridges, Long
Team news:
Stevenage will be without both Filipe Morais and Simon Heslop through suspension for this game so Dean Parrett, Sam Wedgbury, Lucas Akins and Bruno Andrade all come into contention. Darius Charles remains out.
Port Vale remain without goalkeeper Chris Neal (wrist) and skipper Doug Loft (calf strain) through injury so are expected to remain unchanged.
View from the dressing room:
Betting:
Francois Zoko is 7/1 to be the first goalscorer but if you fancy a Scorecast and select Zoko to find the back of the net first in a 2-1 Boro win, you'll get odds of 55/1.
Jennison Myrie-Williams is 3/1 to score against his old side whilst Vale defender Chris Robertson is 12/1 to score against his old manager Graham Westley.
You'll get 7/1 on a draw at half time followed by a Stevenage win, whilst for Boro to behind at half time and win the game you can get odds of 33/1.
through any of the attached links to earn yourself a free £5 bet each week and help the club earn some extra revenue!Sky BetThese are just some of the 53 bets currently on offer for this game for fans to wager on. Sign up with
The Port Vale Scout Report
Recent form:
Port Vale come into this game in 9th place in League 1 after picking up 29 points from their 19 games to date.
The Valiants have four wins in their last five games in all competitions with their only defeat being a 2-0 home reverse to Preston a few weeks back. League wins have come against Shrewsbury (3-1), Crewe (2-1) and Walsall (2-0) whilst they also reached the third round of the FA Cup with a 4-1 win at home to Salisbury.
Despite their recent good form Vale haven't had the best results at home, winning just four of their nine league games, which have seen just 13 goals scored and 13 goals against. They've also had mixed results at Vale Park in cup competitions, winning 4-1 against Salisbury and 2-1 against Bury but losing 2-1 to Walsall and 1-0 to Rochdale.
Possible Port Vale line-up:
Sam Johnson; Adam Yates, Chris Robertson, Richard Duffy, Carl Dickinson; Chris Birchall, Anthony Griffith, Chris Lines, Jennison Myrie-Williams; Gavin Tomlin, Tom Pope.
Subs from: Ryan Boot, Daniel Jones, Liam Chilvers, Rob Taylor, Ben Williamson, Louis Dodds, Lee Hughes
Key Man:
Tom Pope currently leads the goalscoring charts at Vale Park with nine goals to his name this season. The 28-year old struck 33 times last season and was voted in the PFA Team of the Year as Port Vale won promotion. The former Crewe and Rotherham striker has continued where he left off this year, scoring regularly as the Valiants have had an encouraging start to the 2013/14 campaign.