Preview: Stockport County vs Port Vale - prediction, team news, lineups

With a League One playoff place all but secured, Stockport County welcome already relegated Port Vale to Edgeley Park on Tuesday night.

The Hatters returned to winning ways in style last time out, as a superb Louie Barry hat-trick inspired a 3-1 victory over Peterborough United, while the Valiants suffered their 23rd defeat of the campaign after a 2-1 loss to 10-man Plymouth Argyle.

Match preview

After falling short in last season’s playoff semi finals, Dave Challinor’s Stockport County will be determined to go one step further this time around and secure promotion to the Championship.

Of the sides who missed out in the playoffs last year, the Hatters have followed up the best, sitting fourth with two games remaining, while Wycombe Wanderers and Leyton Orient have suffered far tougher campaigns further down the table, with the threat of relegation looming for the latter.

While they are unable to match last season’s impressive total of 87 points, which saw them finish third, Stockport remain well placed to secure a favourable playoff tie if they can finish the campaign strongly.

Their automatic promotion hopes faded some time ago, but a top four finish is still within reach, and with fixtures against already relegated Port Vale and mid-table Barnsley to come, they will be confident of ending the regular season on a high.

Before that, they have two games to go, more than most sides in the division, and face already relegated Port Vale and midtable Barnsley on the final day.

As for the visiting side, Jon Brady's Valiants, they have enjoyed an upturn in form since the Australian manager replaced Darren Moore earlier in the season but he was still unable to steer them away from safety and has begun preparing for life in League Two ever since their relegation to the fourth tier was confirmed.

Across his 28 games in charge at Vale Park, Brady has recorded nine wins, seven draws and 12 defeats, overseeing an improved run of form compared to those around them but ultimately unable to prevent relegation.

Eight points earned from their last six outings is a better return than any side in the bottom seven and will give Port Vale fans confidence of earning promotion back to League One at the first time of asking.

However, their latest defeat will have been particularly frustrating, as they played the majority of the match with an additional man, only for a Bim Pepple brace to hand victory to Plymouth and dent their late season momentum.

Port Vale can still finish the season strongly and will be hoping that, should they secure a second League Two promotion in three years, they can establish themselves more comfortably in League One next time around.

Stockport County League One form:

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Stockport County form (all competitions):

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Port Vale League One form:

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Team News

Stockport County's injuries in the second half of the season have forced them to play top scorer Kyle Wootton at centre back, effectively taking him out of the League One Golden Boot race.

Despite that, a Barry hat-trick last time out showed they still have enough attacking quality up top and the Aston Villa loanee is likely to start behind Adama Sidibeh once again.

The Hatters will, however, be without Joseph Olowu, Brad Hills, Josh Dacres-Cogley, Callum Connolly and Arttu Hoskonen but will be pleased they came away from their weekend win with no further injuries.

Port Vale, meanwhile, also came away from their latest outing with no additional injury woes and have the luxury of naming the same XI once again.

Despite that, George Byers, Ben Heneghan, Jayden Stockley, Kyle John, Andre Gray and Funso Ojo will all remain in the treatment room for this one.

Stockport County possible starting lineup:

Addai; Gardner, Wootton, Pye, Edun; Norwood, Bailey; Stokes, Barry, Mothersille; Sidibeh

Port Vale possible starting lineup:

Gauci; Lawerence-Gabriel, Humphreys, C. Hall; Hernandez, Croasdale, Shipley, Headley; Waine, Sherif, Archer

We say: Stockport County 3-1 Port Vale

These two sides enter their penultimate game of the season at opposite ends of the table and opposite ends of the table and we expect that to show on Tuesday night.

We see the Hatters winning their last regular home game of the season and confirming their spot in the League One playoffs for the second year running.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.