League 1 
Portsmouth will be hoping they can keep their winning run going, as they push towards the League One play-offs. Port Vale are the visitors to Fratton Park on Saturday.
The hosts go into the weekend’s 3 pm kick-off on the back of two wins on the bounce. The south coast outfit will be in good spirits after beating Accrington Stanley 3-1 away from home, before following that up with a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers last weekend. Colby Bishop bagged a brace in that win over the Gas last time out and has been in great form of late. It’s now five goals in his last five league games for the summer signing from Accrington, taking his tally to 18 for the season – a tally only bettered by the 22 League One goals that Jonson Clarke-Harris has notched up for Peterborough.
Pompey are ninth in the table, three places away from the play-off positions. John Mousinho’s side will have to keep winning to keep up with the teams above them in the race for the top six. Portsmouth are currently seven points behind Bolton in sixth, with three points the difference to Peterborough and Wycombe in seventh and eighth places, respectively.
Port Vale make the trip down south looking for those all-important points that would help consolidate their place in the third tier. After promotion form League Two last season, a relaxed end to the campaign in which the Valiants don’t get pulled into a relegation fight will be what the Vale faithful will be hoping for and expecting, as Darrell Clarke’s side sit in 16th position – five places clear of the bottom four. There is a nine-point cushion to Accrington in the relegation zone, but Vale mustn’t get too comfortable, especially with the likes of Burton, MK Dons, and Cheltenham all picking up points below them in recent weeks.
The Valiant’s form hasn’t been good recently, with three defeats, one draw, and one win in their last five games. Vale lost at home in a Staffordshire derby against Burton Albion last week, with the visiting Brewers moving to just three points behind their rivals. Vale surrendered an early lead and were 3-1 down before grabbing a second goal with just over ten minutes to play. Jamie Proctor’s late strike only went down as a consolation goal though with Burton running out as winners in a 3-2 win.