Port Vale vs Leyton Orient preview: How to watch, kick-off time, team news, predicted lineups and ones to watch

Pre-season hopes of automatic promotion for Port Vale seem a distant memory at the moment, as the Potteries based club have begun to slide down the SkyBet League Two table.

Defeat away to relegation battling Stevenage in midweek was Vale's fourth in succession and left some supporters questioning the future of manager John Askey.

Leyton Orient however are heading in the right direction after overcoming their own four match losing streak.

The O's have won back-to-back home matches to take them back into play-off contention and just one point shy of seventh placed Salford.

Following their 1-0 victory over Bradford in midweek, Ross Embleton's men can climb as high as fifth with a win in Staffordshire.

Despite the losing streak, Vale know a win over the resurgent O's can fire them back amongst in play-off chasing pack and ease the growing pressure on boss Askey.

Team News

Port Vale will welcome back captain Leon Legge for the game on Saturday, after the defender served a one match suspension for his red card against Newport.

Luke Joyce will also be available for selection after he also served a suspension and key winger David Amoo could make an appearance as he fights to overcome a hamstring problem.

The tie in Burslem will come too soon for Tom Pope who is still isolating due to Covid-19 and Tom Conlon is unlikely to be fit from an achilles problem.

Embleton has a near fully-fit side available for their trip to the Potteries but may have to do without Irish forward Connor Wilkinson after he suffered a knock against Bradford.

Jordan Maguire-Drew replaced Wilkinson at half-time in Yorkshire and impressed after providing an assist for goal scorer Dan Happe.

Lee Angol and Ruel Sotiriou are both taking part in full training following injury and could make the match-day squad.

Predicted lineups

Port Vale: Brown, Clark, Smith, Legge, Montano, Joyce, Oyeleke, Burgess, Worrall, Cullen, Amoo.

Leyton Orient: Vigouroux, Ling, Coulson, Happe, Widdowson, Cisse, Kypianou, Maguire-Drew, Dennis, Brophy, Johnson.

Ones to watch

Devante Rodney - Port Vale

Despite only playing 29 minutes at The Lamex Stadium, Devante Rodney stood out in Hertforshire with an energetic performance that the 22-year-old capped with his fourth goal of the season.

The forward has enjoyed a decent start to life in Staffordshire following his summer move from Salford and could get the nod to start on Saturday.

Danny Johnson - Leyton Orient

It is difficult to look past Danny Johnson as The O's key player this season, the striker is second in the league scoring charts with nine goals to his name.

Now in his second season with the London club, Johnson struck a hat-trick against Harrogate last Saturday and will surely be the focal point of the Orient attack.

Previous meetings

The last meeting between the sides was back in January at Vale Park, a David Amoo strike helped The Vale to a 1-0 win on that day.

That game was an unusually low scoring affair between two sides who seem to enjoy scoring goals against one another.

The three previous games beforehand involved at least one side scoring three goals, culminating in a blockbuster 3-3 draw in September 2019 where Josh Wright scored a 93rd minute equaliser for The O's at Brisbane Road.