With just one defeat in five, Port Vale will be making the trip to the EBB Stadium on Saturday in confident mood, however the promotion hopefuls will certainly face a tough challenge as Holdsworth’s men have their own impressive record of just one defeat in nine to uphold – and The Shots won’t be content in conceding that run at the expense of any sub-standard performance.
Aldershot enter the match in 17th place with 37 points from 31 games while Port Vale are looking to remain in the promotion chasing pack in 6th, with 48 points from the same amount of games.
Shots Team News
Shots manager Dean Holdsworth has said that he isn’t setting any targets for the remainder of the current season, but feels that it is important to remain unbeaten at the EBB Stadium as the final stages of the season get underway.
There’s been an impressive run of just one defeat in nine games since Holdsworth and Matthew Bishop took charge of the club, but with six of those nine resulting in draws, the boss is focusing on the positives and believes that it is just a matter of time before the side convert single points into victories - and he is looking for that transformation to begin against Port Vale this Saturday.
With many player contracts running out at the end of the current campaign, the boss will certainly have his own thoughts in relation to transfer targets so the players have it all to do if they are to demonstrate why they should remain at the club next season and Holdsworth has been impressed with the effort that has been show to date but for now, he only has eyes on Saturday’s match.
”Port Vale will be looking to put things right [after their mid-week defeat against Stevenage],” he told the Premium Shots.
”But we need to just focus on what we can achieve and that will hopefully be three points for us and another good performance in front of the fans because it’s vital for me that we give a performance for 95-minutes and not 65.
”There are no targets and the most important thing is performances improve game by game, we need the squad to be as fit as possible, as organised as possible and that they’re enjoying it.”
Jack Randall is out [second broken leg of the season] while Damian Spencer [on loan with Eastbourne Borough] has picked up a minor injury and has a slight inflammation to his knee. Reece Connolly is on loan at Dorchester Town and is expected to feature in their match against Farnborough while Anthony Straker remains at Wycombe Wanderers. Jermaine McGlashan is expected to return to the side after being rested, however Holdsworth has confirmed that he will only play a small part in the match as the boss looks to “manage” the youngsters fitness more effectively.
Shots from: Jamie Young, Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz, Ben Herd, Simon Grand, Luke Guttridge, Darren Jones, Jamie Vincent, Anthony Charles, Ben Harding, Danny Hylton, Manny Panther, Aaron Morris, John Halls, Peter Vincenti, Clayton Fortune, Jermaine McGlashan, Wade Small, Alex Rodman, Albert Jarrett and Tim Sills.
The Opposition
Jim Gannon will be looking for a repeat of Vales 1-0 victory over The Shots back in September as his side look to return to winning ways in order to maintain their pressure in the leagues top seven and after a disappointing mid-week 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Stevenage, there will be an added urgency to prove that result was just a temporary blip and speaking to the local media Gannon said: ”The onus will be on Aldershot to win the game, but looking at the lads in training they are determined to show Tuesday's display wasn't a true reflection of their talent.
"They want the real Vale team to stand up and show they've got what it takes to stay in the promotion picture.
"Prior to Tuesday's game we were picking up two points a game on average – that's a measure of a team near the top of any division."
James O’Shea has returned to Birmingham City following his loan spell coming to an end, while Gareth Owen [ankle] and Gary Roberts [who scored the only goal in the two sides previous meeting, is suspended] will also be missing. There are also doubts over the fitness of Lewis Haldane following a knock he picked up on his ankle during the mid-week defeat.
Port Vale from: Chris Martin, Stuart Tomlinson, Adam Yates, Robert Taylor, Anthony Griffith, John McCombe, Doug Loft, Louis Dodds, Marc Richards, Justin Richards, Kris Taylor, Lee Collins, Lewis Haldane, Sean Rigg, Sam Morsy, Exodus Geohaghon, Anthony Malbon, Matthew Bell, Ritchie Sutton, Kristian Cox, Sam Johnson, Joe Davis and Sam Pope.
- You can visit the official Port Vale website here.
Taking Charge
Iain Williamson will be taking charge of the match and will be assisted by Ian Cooper and Rob Kendall. Tim Robinson is the fourth official.
Weather Forecast
The BBC weather forecast for the match is given as light rain with highs of 8°C.
Ticket News
Tickets for the match are set at:
Adult seats: £19, terrace: £17.
Concession (Over 60s, Military and students (both on production of ID cards only) seats: £15, terrace: £13.
Under 16s seats: £8, terrace £6.
For information on Family and Disabled ticket prices, please click here.
The match is not all-ticket and supporters can pay on the turnstiles on the day.
Other News
- BBC Radio Surrey
Supporters unable to make the match can hear live coverage from the match on BBC Radio Surrey (on 104.6 FM) which is brought to you by the regular team of Gavin Denison and Aldershot Town Media Manager Steve Gibbs.
Supporters are reminded that there is no internet coverage of this match