Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra kick off their bids for EFL Trophy stardom with a Northern Section Group B showdown at Vale Park on Tuesday evening.
Andy Crosby's team enter the contest on the back of a 2-1 success over Oxford United in the third tier, while their visitors defeated MK Dons 3-1 last time out in League Two.
Match preview
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Despite only having one win to shout about from their final 11 League One fixtures in the 2022-23 campaign as they slumped to an 18th-placed finish, Port Vale have laid down an early marker for the new campaign with a stellar sequence of results.
A 7-0 obliteration at the hands of Barnsley represented a nightmare beginning for Crosby's charges, but the redemption arc has been something to behold, as the hosts enter Tuesday's game having won six and drawn one of their last seven games in all tournaments.
Alongside progression to the third round of the EFL Cup - where upcoming foes Crewe Alexandra were one of their victims - Port Vale have prevailed in each of their last three League One contests versus Charlton Athletic, Carlisle United and most recently a nine-man Oxford crop.
The Valiants' trip to the Kassam Stadium was chaotic to say the least, as Alex Iacovitti gave Port Vale the lead after Oxford lost Mark Harris to a straight red card, before Greg Leigh levelled for the hosts in the third minute of injury time.
However, only two minutes after making the net bulge, Leigh went from hero to zero as he was also given his marching orders for a second bookable offence, before Tottenham Hotspur loanee Alfie Devine slotted home from 12 yards in the ninth minute of second-half injury time.
Coincidentally, Port Vale's recent EFL Cup second-round success over Crewe Alexandra came via the 12-yard mark, and the visitors therefore have an added motivation to inflict a first group-stage exit on the Valiants since the 2016-17 EFL Trophy campaign.
One-time winners of the tournament in the 2012-13 season, the visitors have since become all too familiar with early exits from the competition, failing to make it out of the group stage in five of the last seven editions and finishing dead last in their section last year.
However, Lee Bell's side have made a respectable start to the new term, losing just two of their first eight matches in all tournaments and fighting back from a 1-0 deficit to sink MK Dons at the weekend thanks to a second-half flurry of strikes from Conor Thomas, Courtney Baker-Richardson and Chris Long.
Mid-table obscurity has been achieved for 11th-placed Crewe during the embryonic stages of the season, but they trek to Vale Park with just one win to show from their last eight competitive away fixtures - a penalty-shootout success over Sunderland in the first round of the EFL Cup before their spot-kick luck ran out against Port Vale.
That agonising loss to the Valiants also marked Crewe Alexandra's fourth defeat on the bounce against their upcoming hosts, who have kept clean sheets in all of those victories and have not lost to the Railwaymen since August 2017.
Team News
While Oxford duo Harris and Leigh lost their rag at the weekend, Port Vale emerged from the encounter without any fresh injury or suspension concerns, but Devine is one of three players to have been called up for international duty this month.
The 19-year-old and fellow midfielder Oliver Arblaster have both been selected to represent England's Under-20s, while striker Joshua Thomas - on loan from Swansea City - will turn out for Wales' Under-21 team.
Arblaster and Devine's absences depletes a midfield already coping without captain Tom Conlon - who is nursing a severe hamstring injury and joins defenders Dan Jones and Kofi Balmer in the medical room - so either Jason Lowe or Ben Garrity will likely be called upon to fill the void in the engine room.
Meanwhile, one of Crewe Alexandra's up-and-coming prospects is also away with his national team this month, as 19-year-old defender Connor O'Riordan has been selected to represent the Republic of Ireland's Under-21 side.
O'Riordan's fellow teenager Zac Williams should step in this week, although the Welshman was required to deputise for Rio Adebisi for the final 10 minutes of their win over MK Dons after the left-back was withdrawn with an apparent injury.
The severity of Adebisi's problem is currently unknown, but Aaron Rowe is on standby, while Newcastle United loanee Joe White is eyeing a recall to the XI in an attacking midfield role.
Port Vale possible starting lineup:
Leutwiler; Cass, Smith, Iacovitti; Clark, Ojo, Garrity, Plant; Chislett, Massey; Wilson
Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Davies; Offord, Demetriou, Williams; Cooney, Thomas, Powell, Tabiner, Rowe; Long, Baker-Richardson
We say: Port Vale 2-0 Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra took a little while to light the blue touch paper at the weekend, but the Railwaymen were indomitable once they got going and will not panic should they fall a goal down at Vale Park.
However, the League Two side have already been stunted in this fixture once this season - a regular occurrence nowadays - and we still expect Crosby's in-form troops to continue their hot streak with a comprehensive opening win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
