Peterborough United chase first hat-trick and recent history will be on their side at Port Vale

Posh won back-to-back games against Wycombe and Plymouth in September, but then lost their next match 3-0 at home to Lincoln. They then beat Wimbledon and Stockport in back-to-back games, but were then beaten at home by Stevenage.

On the surface Saturday is their best chance yet of claiming a hat-trick as they face a side who haven’t won a League One game since September 27 when they beat Barnsley 2-0 at Oakwell. That’s a run of nine matches.

The Valiants last won a League One game at Vale Park on September 20 when they beat Mansfield Town 2-1, their only home win of the season. That’s a run of four matches. Their tally of six League One points from nine games is the lowest in the division. Plymouth (10 points) have the next worst record.

Vale have only won three of 19 League One games all season. Exeter were their other victims. Vale have also scored the fewest League One goals (13), three fewer than the next worst team, Mansfield Town.

A word of warning though Vale have popping cup goals in on a regular basis and last Saturday they gained a creditable 2-2 draw at Luton Town.

Other key games this weekend (as far as Posh are concerned): Friday: Cobblers v Wimbledon. Saturday: Doncaster v Plymouth, Exeter v Barnsley, Mansfield v Stockport, Rotherham v Huddersfield, Stevenage v Burton, Wigan v Blackpool.

Past Vale v Posh

Posh have a winning record at Port Vale in Football League games. It’s 12-10 to Posh in 27 meetings.

Posh have won the last three clashes without conceding a goal, although the matches have been getting progressively closer. It was 3-0 in 2017 when Junior Morias scored his first two goals for the club, both in injury time, after Marcus Maddison had given Grant McCann’s side the lead.

It was 2-0 when they next met in 2023 as Ephron Mason-Clark struck twice in Darren Ferguson’s first game in his fourth spell as manager. And later that year a solitary goal from Mason-Clark was enough for three points. All the games took place in League One.

Vale last won this fixture in January 2015, 2-1 after Conor Washington had shot Posh in front.

Dangermen

Experienced forward Devane Cole is Vale’s top scorer in League One matches with five goals. He joined after Vale sold star striker Lorent Tolaj to Plymouth. Midfielder Ryan Crossdale is the only other Vale player with more than one goal.

Winger Ronan Curtis was decent at Portsmouth for a while.

Big match odds

Posh are not favourites to win at the bottom club on Saturday. Sky Bet have Vale at 23-20 to win and Posh at 19-10 to win. It’s 21-10 the draw.

For the more adventurous gambler the same firm has Posh at 14-1 to finish in the top six. Posh are now 100-30 to be relegated. They were odds on for the drop not so long ago.

Lady in the middle

It’s a first League One appointment of her career for Kirsty Dowle.