Saturday sees us face local rivals Port Vale at the Alexandra Stadium with the visitors sitting in 11th place as they look at knocking the Alex off top spot.
So far this season, they have beaten Forest Green Rovers, Cambridge United, Plymouth Argyle, Morecambe and Bradford City, they have drawn with Colchester United, Northampton Town, Salford City, Mansfield Town, Leyton Orient, Stevenage and Oldham Athletic while they have lost to Grimsby Town, Newport County, Exeter City and Macclesfield Town.
In the cups, they lost to Burton Albion in the first round of the EFL Cup and have beaten both Shrewsbury Town and Macclesfield in their EFL Trophy group (which also contains Newcastle United’s Under-21 side) and will advance to the knock-out phase. They also have an away game against MK Dons next week in the FA Cup.
Over the summer, Port Vale have signed 15 players over the summer, 14 of which are permanent signings and 1 loan until January while letting 15 leave the club permanently. Arriving at the club are goalkeeper Jonny Maddison, defenders Adam Crookes, Kieran Kennedy and Shaun Brisley, midfielders Scott Burgess, Ryan Lloyd, Callum Evans, Alex Academy Alumni Alex Hurst, Will Atkinson and loanee Jake Taylor as well as forwards Mark Cullen, David Amoo, Rhys Browne and Jordan Archer.
Looking back in the archives, the two teams have met 80 times with Port Vale leading the head-to-head with 37 wins to 20 with 23 draws. Crewe’s biggest win came in their first home game against the Vale with a 5-0 victory in November 1892 whilst Vale’s biggest win came in August 1978 as the score finished 5-1 at the Alexandra Stadium. In last season’s fixtures, the Vale did the double over the Alex with 1-0 wins home and away, Leon Legge getting the only goal of the game in South Cheshire while Tom Pope came off the bench to score in Staffordshire.
Who are the officials for the game?
The officials for this game see Ross Joyce as the man in the middle where he is assisted by Matthew Parry and Joe Clark with Lewis Smith being the fourth official. Here are the Crewe games that have been refereed by Joyce in the previous 5 years:
- Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Cambridge United (3rd October 2015) – Fox
- Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Rochdale (6th February 2016) – Haber, Inman
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Mansfield Town (1st October 2016) – Dagnall
- Accrington Stanley 3-2 Crewe Alexandra (8th April 2017) – Cooke, Dagnall
- Crewe Alexandra 0-5 Carlisle United (23rd September 2017)
I asked Port Vale supporter Jonathan Turnock for his thoughts going into the game.
How would you describe your transfer activity this summer?
I feel like we could have had got two defenders in. We had a busy transfer window in the summer again rebuilding the whole team.
Which position is the one that you should improve the most from the squad you currently have?
I think the left-back position needs sorting out to be fair we need more experience there.
What do you think the team will be for the game?
Thomas; Bernard, Rawson, Kitching; Shephard, Adams, Winchester, Mills; Collins, Stevens, Aitchison (3-4-3)
Who is the danger man for this game?
Our danger man is going to be one of Richie Bennett, Amoo or Scott Burgess.
What do you think is a realistic aim for Vale this season?
I think we need to get a stable position in the league this season so we can build on it next season.
