‘Injuries will take their toll and our quest for cup glory will fall short’
PORT Vale are at Burton in the FA Cup second round this weekend. Talking issues on and off the pitch is our fans’ panel of PAUL DIXON, from Burslem, and SCOTT LINGARD, from Sneyd Green...
WHAT’S YOUR PREDICTION? Paul Dixon: Another tie against a mid-table League One side, but I can see us falling at this hurdle with our injuries adding up. I’m going for a 2-1 win for Burton. I hope I’m wrong.
Scott Lingard: I’m hoping for a sneaky 1-1 draw on Saturday, get them back up the Vale on a televised replay and knock them out after we have been drawn at home to Manchester United.
We can but dream, but it is the FA Cup after all.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS? Paul Dixon:
It was a relief to pick up the three points at home to Hartlepool last Saturday - in a game played in Baltic conditions.
It wasn’t always pretty, but I felt we were always comfortable against a side who, for some unknown reason, tried and failed to play out from the back.
Whilst it is ‘admirable’’ to play the game the ‘right way’, this is League Two and time and again they took unnecessary risks, although it wasn’t sealed until the final minute after superb Tom Pett, pictured, goal.
I’d like to applaud the hardy 350 or so
Hartlepool fans who made the long journey.
They were a credit to their club. Also, to the volunteers from our very own club who responded to social media posts for help to clear the pitch of a dusting of snow. A great response ensured the
game went ahead. It was a great attendance too with such poor conditions.
On to our trip to the New York Stadium on Tuesday, a first visit for me and it really is a fabulous stadium. I enjoyed the game too as Aidan Stone and Leon Legge were outstanding.
I feel Vale were a little unlucky to bow out of the Trophy as we possibly could have won it after a super second half.
We gave it a good go though and the 148 who made the trip to Rotherham applauded the players off.
Finally, we’ve had some terrible luck with our two main strikers out and now George Lloyd has joined them on the treatment table.
I’m trusting that we will be ready to swoop in January for a loan player of a decent calibre.
We are still creating chances, and plenty of them, but we do need to be more clinical I feel if we can get to January in or around the top seven we can go on to be successful as players will return. It’s all about keeping the faith. I certainly am.
Scott Lingard: Yet another large following of Valiants make the relatively short trip to Burton to see if we can progress to the next round of at least one cup this week - after unluckily bowing out of this seasons Papa John’s Trophy to League One leaders Rotherham on Tuesday.
This will be another great test for the team who clearly have aspirations of being in with these teams next season.
It was good to hear from Rotherham fans that they felt we were one of the best teams they had played this season, and that was a much-changed Port Vale team.
We did give them a game though.
So far, we have played five teams from the league above this season and we have not showed ourselves up against any of them.
Our biggest problem appears to be the mini crisis the manager eluded to on Tuesday, with no recognised strikers in the team at the moment.
David Amoo has in my opinion really stepped up and probably had his best game for a while in the defeat at Oldham.
Devante Rodney has always been a player that I feel is more comfortable coming in from a wide position, rather than an out-and-out striker role, and Dennis Politic also seems a very similar type of player, so maybe we need to alter our formation to best suit the players we have available at the moment.
But this season has seen players step up and prove themselves on many occasions, and I’m sure that we can do this again.
It’s good to see goals coming from around the team as well.
The FA Cup holds many special memories for me as a Vale fan. Some of my fondest moments as a Vale fan have come in the FA Cup, as well as some of the worst!
My stand out moment will always be when Port Vale beat Tottenham Hotspur up at Vale Park.
It was a day I will never forget, from when on Saint and Greavsie the comment was,’the hardest part of the day for Spurs will be finding the ground,’ to meeting the great Dennis Law who was commentating for radio.
Most of all though it was Ray Walker’s stunning goal.
Another high would be the obvious Tom Pope equaliser at Man City sending 9,000 Vale fans mental.
As for the lows, Canvey Island was not a pleasant experience, nor was King’s Lynn Town last season, but one thing the pandemic did was save us from actually having to be at that game!
As for this season, I think we will be more than capable of holding our own against a good Burton team.