For only the second time this calendar year, Wycombe Wanderers are playing a Saturday match at 3pm after what has been a stop-start January.

Postponements due to the weather and cup commitments have meant the Chairboys have hardly had any playing time since the start of 2023.

But with an away trip against one of Gareth Ainsworth’s former teams being up next for Wycombe, they hope to continue to keep on pushing for that play-off position.

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It’s Port Vale vs Wycombe Wanderers and here is everything you need to know.

Current Form and Background on Port Vale

It has been five years since Port Vale were last in League One, and they are certainly enjoying life back in the third tier.

They may be winless in three, but Darrell Clarke’s side currently sit 13th in the league, which is a respectable place to be after five years away.

It could be a lot worse for the Valiants, but I think the keyword for their campaign so far is ‘inconsistency’.

Since the start of the season, they have played 27 league games, won 10, drawn six, and lost 11.

They have also scored the least amount of goals out of the top 13 teams with just 28.

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Additionally, since that 2-2 against Wycombe on November 1 last year, they have won four, drawn two, and lost five.

They have struggled for form all season, but with six new arrivals in the January Transfer Window, which includes Matty Taylor on loan from Oxford United for the rest of the season, they are hoping for a strong end to the campaign.

Current Form and Background on Wanderers

It’s been a strange start of the year for Wycombe as they have hardly played.

Since January 1, they have featured in just three league outings, which have ended in two wins and one defeat.

A 3-0 away victory over Peterborough United on New Year's Day and a 2-0 triumph against neighbours Oxford United on January 24, with a 1-0 loss at home to Sheffield Wednesday sandwiched between those two fixtures are the only times the Chairboys have been in action.

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Since the 2-2 draw against Port Vale on November 1, Wanderers have played 11 times in the league and have lost just three times, picking up 20 points from a possible 33.  

The Last Five Meetings

2022/23: Wycombe Wanderers 2-2 Port Vale

2017/18: Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Port Vale

2017/18: Port Vale 2-3 Wycombe Wanderers

2012/13: Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Port Vale

2012/13: Port Vale 4-1 Wycombe Wanderers

Overall Away Record Against Port Vale

Games: Eight

Wycombe Wanderers wins: Two

Draws: Four

Port Vale wins: Two

Overall Record Against Port Vale

Games: 17

Wycombe Wanderers wins: Six

Draws: Eight

Port Vale wins: Three

Miscellaneous

  • The referee for the match is Marc Edwards.
  • It will be his second fixture officiating the Chairboys, with his first being the 1-0 away loss at Cheltenham Town on November 19.
  • The assistants are Darren Wilding and Richard Wigglesworth, whilst the fourth official is Simon Mather.
  • Wycombe have not kept a clean sheet away at Port Vale since their first visit to Vale Park.
  • This was in a 1-0 win in September 2000 with Andy Rammell getting the only goal of the game.
  • Incredibly, all the draws between the two sides at Vale Park have ended 1-1.
  • These were in the 2001/02, 2002/03, 2003/04, and 2008/09 seasons, respectively.
  • Gareth Ainsworth’s last league match as a player was against Port Vale in April 2013.
  • Ainsworth spent 13 months there as a player as is the club's record transfer and record departure.
  • He was signed for £500,000 from Lincoln City and was sold for £1.5m to Wimbledon.