Preview: Wycombe Wanderers vs Port Vale - prediction, team news, lineups

Wycombe Wanderers welcome Port Vale to Adams Park on Saturday afternoon for their latest instalment of League One action.

The Chairboys fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Leyton Orient in their previous league outing, while the Valiants were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Doncaster Rovers.

Match preview

Wycombe have seen their playoff push halted in recent weeks, losing three of their previous four matches after a trio of league victories.

Following consecutive defeats, the Chairboys returned to winning ways a fortnight ago by claiming an impressive 2-0 away win against high-flying Cardiff City, but they were pulled straight back to earth after losing by the same scoreline to a relegation-threatened Leyton Orient side.

As a result, Michael Duff's outfit now find themselves four points behind Stevenage, who currently occupy the final playoff spot and have also played a game fewer than Wycombe.

However, the Chairboys will be confident that in a time of need they can rely upon their sturdy home form, having won four of their previous five matches at Adams Park and picking up 36 points from their 19 games in Buckinghamshire this season.

With tricky upcoming fixtures against the likes of Stockport County, Bradford City and Huddersfield Town fast approaching, Duff's side will be looking to kick start another winning streak against Port Vale, whom they have not lost any of their previous eight matches against.

After a dismal first half of their campaign, Port Vale have given themselves a glimmering hope of survival with some positive recent results.

The Valiants still remain at the foot of the table with 31 points from 37 matches, but despite sitting 11 points off safety, they still have multiple games in hand on nearly all of the surrounding teams.

Jon Brady's side have also achieved more points in the previous 15 league matches - with 16 - than each of the five sides above them in the table and have lost just three of their latest 10 in all competitions.

However, the highlight of Port Vale's season has undoubtedly been their impressive FA Cup run, having beat both Bristol City and Premier League side Sunderland to set up a seismic clash with European giants Chelsea next weekend.

There would certainly be no better way to enter that contest than with a statement victory on Saturday against Wycombe, whom the Valiants have not beat at Adams Park since March 2001, 10 matches ago.

Wycombe Wanderers League One form:

Port Vale League One form:

Port Vale form (all competitions):

Team News

Wycombe will be without the services of English centre back Taylor Allen for Saturday's match after the 25-year-old was shown a straight red card in the first half of the last weekend's defeat against Leyton Orient.

It is probable that in his absence, Duff will choose to partner Connor Taylor with Niall Huggins, who has recently returned from a month on the sidelines and filled the void of Allen in east London.

Elsewhere, we expect the Chairboys to field a similar team, with the only question mark being whether Fulham loanee Luke Harris is preferred to Angolan winger Cunha Vidigal on the left side of attack.

Duff will continue to miss defensive duo Dan Casey and Anders Hagelskjaer, with the latter not expected to feature for the remainder of the season with a muscle injury.

Port Vale remain without both George Byres, who has recently returned to training following a long spell out, Ben Heneghan and Ryan Croasdale.

The Valiants are expected to deploy the same backline that narrowly lost to Doncaster, while Funso Ojo is likely to start beside Rhys Walters once again at the base of Brady's midfield.

It remains to be seen who will be preferred to spearhead the visitors' attack, with Everton loanee Martin Sherif facing competition from 20-year-old Dajaune Brown, who returned to the squad last weekend.

Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Norris; Grimmer, Taylor, Huggins, Harvie; Morley, Boyd-Munce; Onyedinma, Woodrow, Harris; Lowe

Port Vale possible starting lineup:

Gauci; Lawrence-Gabriel, Humphreys, C. Hall, Campbell; Ojo, Walters; G. Hall, Shipley, Headley; Sherif

We say: Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 Port Vale

While they seem to have faltered recently, there is no doubt that Wycombe are the favourites to take all three points from Saturday afternoon's match.

The Chairboys have been strong at home and although Port Vale will have belief that they can escape relegation, we think that bubble could be popped with the home side claiming a convincing win this weekend.

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