Port Vale and Nottingham Forest continue their respective pre-season preparations with a friendly encounter at Vale Park on Saturday afternoon.
Darrell Clarke's men fell to a 1-0 defeat against Fleetwood Town in their most recent battle, while Forest kicked off their warm-up for the new campaign with a 2-1 success against Alfreton Town.
Match preview
© Reuters
Winning one then losing one has been the theme of Port Vale's pre-season so far, as Clarke's side followed up their 6-2 thrashing of Newcastle Town with a narrow 1-0 defeat to League One outfit Fleetwood Town during four quarters of a 120-minute run-out on Tuesday.
Former Liverpool man Jordan Rossiter struck the only goal of the game with 51 minutes on the clock to hand Port Vale their second defeat of pre-season, as Clarke's side also suffered defeat to Stafford Rangers either side of wins over Newcastle Town and Kidsgrove Athletic.
Ahead of his first full campaign in charge of Port Vale, Clarke has overseen quite a significant summer overhaul, releasing 15 out-of-contract players after previously expressing delight about getting rid of the "deadwood", while the acquisitions of Lewis Cass and Aaron Martin could prove vital on the defensive front.
Following their clash with Forest, Port Vale will round off their preparations for the new season on July 27 when they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Stoke-on-Trent, and Clarke was able to focus on the "pleasing aspects" of his side's battle with Fleetwood before stiffer opposition pay a visit to Vale Park.
© Reuters
Having had ample time to recover from a 2020-21 campaign which can only be described as topsy-turvy, Nottingham Forest kicked off their pre-season with a trip to non-league side Alfreton Town, who gave Chris Hughton's men quite the scare in midweek.
Brennan Johnson - back from his loan spell at Lincoln City - drew first blood for Nottingham Forest before Shaun Tuton restored parity for the non-league side, who were ultimately undone by Will Swan's 88th-minute winner on the day.
Twenty-year-old Swan in particular will hope to keep the momentum going from that game as he quickly gets reacquainted with Port Vale - the side who took him on loan for the 2020-21 season - and Forest have finally moved to strengthen their own squad with the signing of American goalkeeper Ethan Horvath from Club Brugge.
It has been over 13 years since Nottingham Forest and Port Vale locked horns - a 2-0 win for Forest during the 2007-08 League One season - and this weekend's visitors to Vale Park are on a 16-game unbeaten run against their opponents since suffering a 3-2 defeat in 1954.
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Port Vale were without captain Tom Conlon and Jake Taylor for the defeat to Fleetwood, but Clarke has played down any concerns of serious injury for the duo, and the former should certainly be in contention for this game.
It remains to be seen if Taylor will be given the green light to feature, while Brazilian goalkeeper Lucas Covolan will hope to start after coming on for the fourth quarter of Tuesday's game.
Forest boss Hughton fielded a healthy mixture of youth and experience against Alfreton, and the 62-year-old ought to field another lineup of the same calibre for the trip to Vale Park.
Horvath's transfer to Forest was only completed earlier this week so he may not be deemed ready to feature from the off just yet, and Hughton elected to make 11 half-time changes for their first friendly battle of the summer.
The likes of Swan, Joao Carvalho and Cafu were brought on for the second period against Alfreton, and the trio could all be in line for starts this time around.
Port Vale possible starting lineup:
Covolan; Martin, Legge, Jones; Worrall, Walker, Conlon, Pett; Rodney, Wilson, McFarlane
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Smith; Lawrence-Gabriel, Worrall, Mbe Soh, Blackett; Cafu, Yates; Lolley, Carvalho, Mighten; Swan
We say: Port Vale 0-2 Nottingham Forest
As much as Hughton will want to see more of his returning loan players and starlets in action before the new season kicks off, the Forest coach may reinstate some big-hitters to the XI for the trip to Vale Park.
Port Vale could still pose a threat on home soil, but we are struggling to see the hosts coming away with anything to show for their efforts here.
Ben Knapton
