HUDDERSFIELD Town head to Vale Park without last seasons leading scorer Jordan Rhodes as he is set for hi Scotland U21 home debut the following evening.
The Terriers are starting a trio of away games and will also be without Anton Robinson who picked up a hamstring injury on Saturday.
Lee Novak and Alan Lee will be battling it out to take Rhodes place in the starting line up whilst Tommy Miller will be hopeful of continuing in place of Robinson who he replaced as a substitute on Saturday after just 29 minutes.
However Lee Clark has said that no-ones place is assured and there could be more changes to personnel and tactical than we envisage
There is also the possibility of two Gary Roberts and two McCombe’s on the field at Vale Park!
John McCombe, who used to be at Huddersfield, brother of Town’s Jamie McCombe and Gary Roberts who ironically also started his career at Crewe and went onto feature for Ipswich, Yeovil and Rotherham before joining Port Vale in 2010 on a free.
Vital Quotes:Lee Clark to htafc.com
‘We want to win every game; there is no prioritising. Certainly the League is the one that we are all after, but doing the business in the early rounds of these cup competitions gets you lucrative games financially. It also gives our players and fans the opportunity to visit arenas they would not normally visit.
Port Vale Team News:
Marc Richards (Ankle) is a doubt
Rob Taylor, Louis Dodds and Lewis Haldane pressing for a starting slot
Player to watch: Marc Richards
If passed fit to play the dangerous striker will pose a threat to Town.
Huddersfield Town Team News:
Jordan Rhodes (International Duty)
Anton Robinson (Hamstring)
Alex Smithies (Knee)
Player to watch: Donal McDermott
The recent acquisition will look to provide width and that creative spark
Match Facts & Stats
Last meeting: Saturday 28 November 2009 – Port Vale 0-1 Huddersfield
A game that saw Nathan Clarke score the only goal with an overhead kick to move Town into the next round of the FA Cup.
Match Prediction:
Port Vale 1 – 3 Huddersfield.
Next Fixtures:
Sat 13/8/11 – Rochdale (a) FL1 3pm
Tue 16/8/11 – Hartlepool (a) FL1 7:45pm
Sat 20/8/11 – Colchester (h) FL1 3pm
Sat 27/8/11 – Wycombe (h) FL1 3pm
surely we should win this one
4-4-2 or were sitting ducks.
Do I detect a hint of trepidation there 24…? Im with you 3D…
Cant see us missing rhodes at all.Lee Novak has to start and with a strike partner up front with him will be among the goals.Novak and Cads up front will do for me
Novack and Ward.
Anything other than a convincing win tonight will be bad news for Clark…. I cant see us losing this in all honesty.