With Wycombe Wanderers travelling to Port Vale this weekend, I spoke to Mike Baggaley from the Valiant newsletter about how things have been for the club this week.

How have the players/club reacted to the Reading situation last week?
“I spoke to Vale’s owner Carol Shanahan after the game and her response was sympathy for the Reading fans and concern for the plight of their club.

"But she was also frustrated for the 800 Vale supporters who had made the trip, paying up to £29 for their tickets.

“The Vale fans were pretty patient on the day and that has been acknowledged by the Reading supporters.

"In fact, Reading fans have donated thousands this week to a Vale Supporters’ Club project for a statue of former manager John Rudge.

“John is the club’s greatest manager and fans are determined to have the statue in place in time for his 80th birthday in October. In his 16 years in charge, he led the club to three promotions, three Wembley appearances and kept Vale in what is now the Championship for the majority of the 1990s.
“He also made numerous brilliant signings, including a certain Gareth Ainsworth.

“I’m sure the players were frustrated not to get a game on Saturday but the longer the delay went on, the more difficult that all became.

Former Vale player Adam Yates put it well in The Valiant, saying: “Going back into the dressing room, when you get to 15 or 20 minutes, you are going to need another warm up.

"You are not going to have the half-hour warm up that you would get before a game. That increases the risk of injury.

“So, from a player’s or manager’s perspective, once you go to that 20-minute to half-hour mark, I would be thinking as a player, ‘we probably need to knock this on the head.

"And, if they are not going to allow us 15 minutes as a warm up then the longer it goes on the worse it gets.”

Will the players be more up for it after the abandonment?
“I wouldn’t say the players will be any more or less motivated for the Wycombe game after the abandonment but they will want to build on an encouraging performance in their last game – the 3-3 draw at home to Charlton a fortnight ago.

“I say encouraging…Vale made life difficult for themselves with defensive mistakes but then showed great resilience to come from behind three times in an absolute cracker of a game.

“Vale have been busy off the pitch this week, signing defender Rhys Williams on loan from Liverpool but losing England under-20 midfielder Alfie Devine who has been recalled from his loan by Tottenham.

"Vale are 15th in the league, which is probably just above their budget, but will be looking to kick on in this, their second season back at this level after promotion."

How has Uche Ikpeazu done since moving back to Vale?
"Overall, he’s done pretty well. He took a while to make an impact but that was because he was short of match fitness having not played a competitive game since February before he joined Vale on a free in October.

"But he was popular with Vale fans from his first spell at the club, eight years ago and I am sure you will hear them singing his name again this weekend.

"His goal last time out against Charlton was his first in his 17 Vale appearances since re-signing but he offers a lot more to the team than that.

"His ability to battle with defenders and open up space for team mates has certainly been appreciated and, in the last few weeks, he has formed an effective strike partnership with James Wilson who is back from injury. 

"Ikpeazu and Wilson seem to be bringing the best out of each other as manager Andy Crosby has switched from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 formation in recent weeks."