Up to now the two sides have had contrasting fortunes, Forest recorded their first consecutive league defeats, whereas Port Vale – who were early pace setters in League One – have just won four straight games to put them within a point of the playoffs. This Boxing day fixture promises to be a pretty tough encounter for us, despite Smoulderwood’s apparent confidence in our ability to bounce back from recent defeats.
Gary Holt is apparently a doubt for Forest, who had problems with his vision (as confirmed by numerous fan reports I’ve read) during the Doncaster Rovers match, and Nathan Tyson also took a knock at Belle Vue – it’s his calf that he’s suffering with, and he ended the game limping. Vale will be unable to field Ross Gardner who of course is on loan from us – as part of the loan conditions.
Of course, we’ve played Vale already this season – they scored against us after a mere 13 seconds after Michael Husbands was on hand to hit home a rebound after Leon Constantine’s effort came back off the bar. Breckin scored a scrambled effort for us before half time, in the second half Husbands was sent off for a two-footed lunge on James Perch (who was injured in the process) and kicked off a load of handbags and outrage, despite being an obvious red card.
Forest were unlucky not to go on to win the game, hitting the bar in the process – but well, such is life! The game promises to be a tough one, it’s certainly an opportunity for Forest to end a dodgy run of form, but equally the Valiants will be keen to continue their excellent run. Tough one, but it’s high time we put in a good performance at home and got a result, so my last wish to Santa will be for just that!
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