Gareth Ainsworth believes Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke has done ‘a brilliant job’ at the club following their promotion back into League One.

Wycombe travel to the Potteries to face Clarke’s side this Saturday, in what will be their first visit to Vale Park since August 2017.

What was then a League Two fixture, it was Vale’s first match in the division following their relegation the previous season, and it would take them five years to leave England’s fourth tier.

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They finally achieved this by beating Mansfield Town 3-0 in the League Two play-off final last May, and as things stand, Wanderers’ next opponents lie 13th in the table, 10 points off the play-offs and 11 points away from the relegation zone.

Speaking on his former club, Ainsworth said: “The 2-2 draw between Wycombe and Port Vale in November was brilliant and Darrell Clark has done a brilliant job.

“When we got promoted against Chesterfield in 2018, all we wanted to do the next season was survive in League One.

“That was it, and it took us until the final three games of that year to do it.

“Port Vale have come back into League One and have done really well.

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“They are big, strong and have just signed Matty Taylor from Oxford and we know how good he is.

“It will be a really tough game, and you cannot underestimate the job Darrell has done at Port Vale this season.

On his playing days at Port Vale, which saw him become the club’s most expensive signing at £500,000 from Lincoln City, and the club’s record departure for £1.5m Wimbledon in just 13 months, Ainsworth added: “From a personal perspective, Port Vale is a place that is engraved in my heart for what it did for me.

“It was my stepping stone for reaching the Premier League with Wimbledon.

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“The Vale Park pitch is huge as I loved running down the flanks there.

“So we will need to use everything we know to be ready for the fight as they are a good team.”