Preview: Morecambe vs. Port Vale - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors dropped to 11th spot after a defeat last time out but remain just five points outside of the playoff places with a game in hand on most sides around them.

Match preview

Morecambe experienced a particularly tough first half to the season, and back-to-back defeats, including a 1-0 loss to Port Vale on Boxing Day, left them on just 15 points from 22 matches.

Derek Adams's side did then manage to end an eight-game winless run in the league with a 2-0 beating of Accrington Stanley, thanks to first-half goals from Liam Shaw and Jensen Weir, before hosting Burton Albion at the beginning of the new year and dishing out a 5-0 thrashing.

Goals from Kieran Phillips and Weir had the Shrimps 2-0 up at half time, before the former hit his second and Caleb Watts netted two goals of his own off the bench to wrap up just their fourth three-point haul of the campaign.

They then set out to make that five and three on the bounce at home to Cheltenham Town last time out and succeeded in doing so, coming out with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Phillips and Weir, and jumping out of the bottom four as a result.

Although they only lead 21st-placed Cambridge United on goal difference, Adams's men will be far more optimistic about their position now after adding nine points to their tally in their last three outings, and with plenty of confidence now in the camp, they will look to stretch the winning run to four matches on Saturday, with additional rest having been out of action last weekend due to the postponement of their contest with Cambridge.

They welcome a Port Vale side hoping to get back to winning ways in their bid to stay within range of the playoff spots having enjoyed a positive season thus far under the management of Darrell Clarke.

After collecting 23 points from their opening 18 league outings, the Valiants enjoyed an impressive run of form between mid-November and the turn of the year, putting 12 points on the board in a six-match span, with the only blotches on the record being defeats away at promotion-chasing Sheffield Wednesday and playoff rivals Bristol Rovers.

In that time, they claimed score wins over Charlton Athletic, league leaders Plymouth Argyle, Morecambe and Forest Green Rovers to quickly move into the fight for a top six place, with the latter being a 3-1 triumph thanks to 98th and 102nd-minute goals from Ellis Harrison and Dennis Politic respectively, before hosting a Peterborough United side who sat level on points with them last weekend.

Ephron Mason-Clark would open the scoring for their visitors early in the second half of that contest, and after he netted his second of the game less than 10 minutes later, Clarke's men were unable to find a response and fell to a 10th league defeat of the season, dropping back down to 11th spot in the process.

They do, however, remain just five points behind Barnsley in the top six, and with games in hand on the sides immediately above them, Port Vale will know that another run of positive results could see them quickly move within touching distance of the playoff places again.

Morecambe League One form:

D

L

L

W

W

W

Port Vale League One form:

W

L

W

L

W

L

Port Vale form (all competitions):

L

L

W

L

W

L

Team News

Morecambe only made one enforced change for their Cheltenham contest after the thrashing of Burton Albion, with forward Cole Stockton unable to make the squad due to an injury, but he is expected to return to contention on Saturday and will likely take the place of Kieran Phillips, who recently returned to parent club Huddersfield Town after scoring three goals in the last two games of his loan spell.

There have been other sources of goals in recent weeks, though, and midfielder Jensen Weir will come into the game with confidence, having taken his tally to eight League One goals for the season as he found the net in each of their last three matches.

He will likely join Liam Shaw and Liam Gibson in the engine room, with the back three of Farrend Rawson, Jacob Bedeau and Ryan Delaney bound to remain unchanged.

Port Vale could again be without this season's top scorer Ellis Harrison, who netted his eighth league goal of the campaign in the dramatic win over Forest Green Rovers, and fellow attacker James Wilson at the weekend, after both missed the Peterborough game through injuries.

In their absence, Mipo Odubeko and Gavin Massey featured in attack, and if Harrison and Wilson are again unable to feature, Dennis Politic should be called in from the start to offer further threat going forward.

Nathan Smith has been a relative mainstay in the middle of the defence throughout the campaign, and he should again be joined in a back three by Lewis Cass and Dan Jones with Ben Garrity also set to keep his place in the engine room.

Morecambe possible starting lineup:

Ripley; Rawson, Bedeau, Delaney; Cooney, Shaw, Weir, Gibson, Mayor; Stockton, Watts

Port Vale possible starting lineup:

Stevens; Cass, Smith, Jones; Worrall, Garrity, Pett, Benning; Politic; Massey, Odubeko

We say: Morecambe 2-1 Port Vale

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