After making it to the third round of the FA Cup last season before being beaten by Premier League side Brentford, Port Vale will be hoping for a similar level of success as they begin their campaign against Exeter City at Vale Park on Saturday.

Gary Caldwell will be hoping to find his first victory in charge of Exeter after his recent appointment and will certainly be hopeful of a less chaotic first-round tie compared to the one Exeter had last season.

Match preview

Port Vale easily won their first-round FA Cup tie last season, which was a dominant 5-1 win against Accrington Stanley. They followed that up with a second-round victory against Burton Albion before their loss to Brentford.

These two sides met on the second matchday of the season and Port Vale will definitely be hoping for a different result in this fixture.

Exeter won the game 4-0 but the team has progressed since then and now only one point separates the two teams in the League One table, with Port Vale the team ahead.

After a first-round exit in the EFL Cup, Darrell Clarke's side will want to make better progress in this competition and give their fans the dream of a magical cup run. Their best-ever FA Cup performance saw them reach the semi-finals in the 1953-54 season.

The Valiants have only lost one of their last six league games, with their latest fixture ending in a 2-2 draw against Wycombe Wanderers, so they head into this FA Cup tie in decent form. Ellis Harrison has scored seven goals this season and will be the key threat to look out for in this match.

The first round last season was certainly eventful for Exeter City as they drew against Bradford City in the first game and were then taken to extra time in the replay, which they eventually won 3-0.

However, during extra time they made a sixth substitution on the understanding that they were allowed to make the additional change, only to be told after the match that they had in fact breached the rules.

The replay was subsequently played again, with the tie finally ending in a 2-1 victory for Exeter before they lost their second-round game against Cambridge United 2-1 and exited the competition.

The Grecians will be hoping for a better performance this year in the hope of challenging their best-ever FA Cup runs, which saw them reach the sixth round on two occasions, most recently in the 1980-81 season when they were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Exeter had an eventful first-round tie in the EFL Cup this season, beating Cheltenham Town 7-0 before losing in the second round on penalties to Gillingham. Sam Nombe scored twice in that fixture and will be hoping that another cup game provides him with the opportunity of adding to his tally of seven goals for the season so far.

Port Vale will be well aware of the top scorer for Exeter, Jevani Brown, as he scored twice against them in the league and has an impressive eight goals and seven assists this season, meaning he averages a goal contribution in every game he starts.

With three losses in their last six league games, Exeter will be hoping this game provides them with an opportunity to get their season back on track and also helps Gary Caldwell get to know his squad better as he takes charge of this third game.

Team News

Darrell Clarke made several changes for the trip to Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday, with two of those changes coming in the defence, as Dan Jones was suspended and William Forrester missed the game through injury.

Jones will most likely come back straight into the starting lineup, with Forrester potentially coming back in as he did not suffer a serious injury.

Captain Tom Conlon also returned to the side for the game against Wycombe and scored the equaliser, so he should keep his place.

Jevani Brown was on the bench for Exeter on Monday against Plymouth Argyle but he would be expected to come back into the starting 11 in place of Harry Kite.

The rest of the side is settled and will most likely remain unchanged for the fixture as it did between the Derby County and Plymouth games.

Port Vale possible starting lineup:
Stevens; Jones, Hall, Cass; Benning, Pett, Conlon, Robinson, Massey; Harrison, Wilson

Exeter City possible starting lineup:
Blackman; Hartridge, Sweeney, Key; Sparkes, Dieng, Collins, Caprice, Brown; Nombe, Stansfield

We say: Port Vale 2-1 Exeter City

Although the previous meeting between the two sides ended in a dominant victory for Exeter, a lot has changed since then and with Port Vale in better form, they should progress to the next round.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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