Port Vale manager John Askey feels his side have learnt that lessons ahead of the visit of Leyton Orient on Saturday. Vale led with five minutes to go earlier in the season but conceded late on but Askey is confident his side would come away with victory if they led on Saturday. Speaking to port-vale.co.uk “I hoping so if we got in front we would have learnt from previous experiences and control the game better and see it out”.

• Sit 10th on 38 points
• Three defeats in last four games in all competitions
• Only lost back to back games once all season
• League Record – P27  W9  D11  L7  F34  A33

The Valiants fell to their first defeat in seven league on Tuesday night with a 2-1 defeat at Morecambe. Two goals in the first 12 minutes from Steven Old and Cole Stockton put Morecambe on their way before Jamie Gibbons grabbed a consolation late on. Goalkeeper Scott Brown was disappointed with their start stating to port-vale.co.uk “ to go in 2-0 down was disappointing. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and we couldn’t do it in the second half”.

Vale’s Last Six Results

Midfielder Scott Burgess is looking forward to playing at Vale Park following four consecutive away fixtures. The 22 year old wants his side to bounce back from defeat and wants to take the energy from the home crowd. Speaking to port-vale.co.uk “it’s been a long time since we’ve been in front of our home fans and hopefully we can put in a good performance and get the three points. It’s a game we’re looking forward to but we need to go in with the right mentality and focus”. 

• Home League Record – P13  W6  D6  L1  F18  A11
• Unbeaten in last three – W1  D2
• One loss in last 15 in all competitions – W8  D6  L1
• Last defeat – 0-1 vs Walsall, 07/12/2019

Vale only sit six points from the top seven and Askey insists he won’t be satisfied until we achieve something. The Valiants have only won back to back league games once this season and Askey knows consistency is the key to his side challenging at the top. Speaking to port-vale.co.uk “because we lost on Tuesday, it doesn’t mean we are out of it, a win Saturday, it changes again. We will keep going till the end of the season, until it’s mathematically possible we can’t do something, we will keep going”.

• Kept seven league clean sheets – (four at home)
• One clean sheet in last five games
• Conceded two or more goals in four of their last five games
• Kept two clean sheets in last four leeague games
• One in last five home league games

Orient arrive at Vale Park  in 20th position and Burgess knows his side have to be ruthless ahead of a trip to league leaders Swindon next week. Vale have only won three of their 11 games against the bottom eight and the 22 year old understands his side needs to improve against the bottom half teams. Speaking to port-vale.co.uk “we have shown we can beat teams above us, maybe we haven’t shown that against teams below us. Everyone in the league is fighting for different things. We need to be consistent and getting wins under our belt”.

• Failed to score in five league games
• Scored 19/34 league goals in second half (10/18 at home)
• Netted 15 in final 30 minutes of games, gaining 10 points
• Six of last eight league goals been in second half

Vale are one of only three teams who have only lost once at home this season and acknowledge they need to keep that run going to challenge. Burgess is keen to use his sides confidence at home to grab another victory against the O’s. Speaking to port-vale.co.uk “we’re confident when we go out at home, we’ve got the fans backing. We always feel we’re going to score goals at home. If we can do the job defensively as a unit, we always feel going to score. We like to press for and be on the front foot, we’ve got the players in the team that can do it”.

• Scored in seven of last eight games
• Scored in last six league games
• Scored in two or more in five of their last seven home games

Team News

Adam Crooks and Emmanuel Oyekele have returned to training following injury but are still out. On loan Jake Taylor is sidelined with injury till February while striker Jordan Archer has gone on loan to Stockport County.

Head to Head – Port Vale 33, Draw 9, Leyton Orient 18

Last Meeting – 28/09/2019 – Leyton Orient 3-3 Port Vale

The Last Seven Meetings Between Sides

• Port Vale have only won one of the last five meetings – W1  D1  L3
• Vale have won seven of the last eight home games between sides
• Ten of the last 11 meetings have seen two or more goals
• The home side have scored at least three times in four of the last five meetings

Last Time Out – 14/01/2020 – Morecambe 2-1 Port Vale

Starting 11 vs Morecambe

Prediction – Port Vale 2-1 Leyton Orient