Port Vale dangermen, key players and manager profiled ahead of Sunderland FA Cup tie
Sunderland will visit League One club Port Vale for an FA Cup fifth round tie on Sunday afternoon.
Sunderland discovered their FA Cup fifth round opponents on Tuesday night as League One strugglers Port Vale claimed a narrow win against Championship side Bristol City to set up a home tie with the Black Cats this weekend.
Regis Le Bris and his players will take a break from their impressive Premier League campaign to focus on their attempts to take Sunderland into the last eight of the FA Cup for the first time since 2014. Their task appears straightforward as they face a Valiants side currently sitting at the foot of the League One table after winning just six of their 32 league games so far this season.
However, the FA Cup can provide shocks and Sunderland will hope to avoid being on the wrong end of a giantkilling when they visit Vale Park on Sunday afternoon. But what do we know about Port Vale and who are the players to watch?
Who have Port Vale beaten to reach the FA Cup fifth round?
Despite their league struggles, Brady’s side have surpassed all expectations in the FA Cup and have produced some eye-catching results to reach the last 16 of the competition. After cruising past non-league side Maldon & Tiptree with a 5-1 home win in the first round, a Ben Waine goal was enough to see off Bristol Rovers in the second round to set up a third round meeting with Fleetwood Town. Again, a solitary goal was all that was needed as Jordan Shipley’s first-half strike made the difference before the Valiants produced a shock win in the fifth round as Ben Waine’s extra-time goal saw off Championship side Bristol City on Tuesday night.
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When did Sunderland last face Port Vale?
The Black Cats claimed a 2-1 win in a Carabao Cup first round at Vale Park in August 2021 as goals from Josh Hawkes and Aiden O’Brien helped Sunderland progress. That was actually the Black Cats’ sixth consecutive win against the Valiants and that run includes a 2-1 victory in an FA Cup first round clash in November 2018. Academy products George Honeyman and Lynden Gooch got the goals for Sunderland but they were made to work for their win after Tom Pope found the net to keep the hosts in the tie.
Do Sunderland have a good record against Port Vale?
Yes, the two sides have faced off in 23 games in all competitions and Sunderland have lost on just four occasions. The last of those defeats came with a 3-1 reverse in August 1997. The Black Cats have faced the Valiants on six occasions in the FA Cup with both sides claiming two wins apiece with two of those ties going to replays.
Who are Port Vale’s key players?
Given the defensive solidity that has laid the foundations for their run to the fifth round of the FA Cup, there is probably little surprise in discovering centre-back trio Cameron Humphreys, Connor Hall and Ben Heneghan have made more appearances than any of their team-mates this season. Midfielders George Hall and Ryan Croasdale have also become integral within their side this season. Devante Cole, son of former Sunderland and Newcastle United striker Andrew Cole, leads the goalscoring charts with eight goals, closely followed by Ben Waine, who has seven goals to his name. One player with a North East connection is on-loan striker Dajaune Brown, who scored the winning penalty as Gateshead claimed a shoot-out win in their FA Trophy final triumph against Solihull Moors in 2024. The Derby County youngster was tentatively linked with a move to Sunderland during that time.
Who is the Port Vale manager?
Australian manager Jon Brady was appointed as Valliants boss in January. The former Cambridge United and Stevenage player kicked off his managerial career in 2009 with a spell in charge of non-league club Brackley Town before. A lengthy stint as a youth coach at Northampton Town led to a spell as interim manager of the Cobblers in February 2021 and his impressed sufficiently to be handed the reins on a permanent basis. After guiding his side to promotion into League One in 2023, Brady left the club in December 2024 after over 200 games in charge and remained out of work until he joined the Valliants earlier this year.
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