James Heneghan's Port Vale v Northampton Town preview

Date/time: Saturday, February 12, 3pm kick-off

Venue: Vale Park

Forecast: 6C, showers

Outs and doubts: Vale: Jamie Proctor, Tom Conlon, James Gibbons. Northampton: Aaron McGowan, Jack Sowerby, Sid Nelson.

Betting: Vale 6/5, draw 9/4, Northampton 5/2

Form guide: Vale WDWDLL, Cobblers WWLWD

Current league positions: 8th v 3rd

Possible line-ups: Vale (3-4-3): Holy; Smith, Walker, Martin; Worrall, Pett, Garrity, Hussey; Wilson, Edmondson, Harratt. Northampton (3-4-1-2): Roberts; Magloire, Horsfall, Guthrie; Hoskins, McWilliams, Lewis, Koiki; Pinnock; Eppiah, Appere.

Man in the middle: Alan Young

Last time out: Carlisle 1 Port Vale 3 (Worrall, Wilson, Amoo); Northampton 1 (Horsfall) Newport 0

Most recent meeting: Saturday, August 7, 2021 - Northampton 1 (Ashley-Seal) Port Vale 0

Record v Port Vale: P73 W30 D21 L22

James Heneghan's preview: The tried and trusted formula of set-piece mastery coupled with defensive resilience has earned the Cobblers another six points this week but the tough tests just keep on coming with tomorrow's trip to Port Vale.

One glance at the table may not give the impression that Vale are a direct rival in the race for promotion but delve deeper and it would be both unwise and premature to rule them out of the race for a top three finish.

Like with Northampton, Vale's promotion charge was checked by COVID and subsequently caused them to stutter either side of Christmas but they look back on track following two wins in their last three and a four-game unbeaten run.

Key players are on their way back from injury and January signings are bedding in. And with games in hand on all of their rivals - including three on Tranmere and Newport - they are well set to finish the season strongly under the experienced Darrell Clarke.

When you look at their remaining fixtures, you could argue this is the toughest game Northampton have to play, perhaps aside from April's trip to Mansfield. Of the 16 games left after Saturday, only three - Tranmere, Mansfield and Exeter - are against teams in the current top 10. They still have to play every team in the bottom 10.

That not does not count for anything, of course, but it is nonetheless a strong position to be in. Many of Town's promotion rivals will be facing each other in the coming weeks so this would be an opportune moment to put the foot down and kick-on.

But first the focus is on Saturday and a game that has all the hallmarks of one of those cagey, tight, low-scoring promotion encounters between two hard-working and well-organised teams. Can Cobblers make it a hat-trick of 1-0 wins in a week? It would be a huge step closer to promotion should they do so...

Prediction: Port Vale 1 Northampton Town 1