This weekend’s Sky Bet League Two fixture sees the Spireites make a relatively short journey to Staffordshire to take on Port Vale, who were relegated from the third tier last season.
Darren Moore’s side enjoyed opening day success away at Salford City but went without a win in three until their convincing 4-1 away victory against nine-man Newport last Saturday.
With the home side yet to register a win at Vale Park, the Spireites should be hopeful that they can earn a second away win of the season after a frustrating day on the road at Gillingham a couple of weeks earlier.
Head-to-head
Paul Cook holds a strong record against the Vale throughout his career. Over six games, he is yet to be defeated against the Staffordshire outfit, taking four wins and two draws.
His most recent victory came back in early 2015 during his first stint with the Spireites, where goals from Armand Gnanduillet, Eoin Doyle and Charlie Raglan gave the Spireites a 3-0 home win.
Port Vale’s last victory against us came in the most recent encounter between the sides in March 2018, when a Vale squad featuring Ryan Boot earned a 2-1 victory over a Chesterfield side who were ultimately relegated out of the Football League.
Vale gaffer Darren Moore has faced Cook four times so far in his relatively fresh managerial career.
Cook and Moore faced each other three times during the 2018/19 season as managers of Wigan and West Brom respectively where the freshly relegated Baggies came out on top in both fixtures at The Hawthorns, one of which was an FA Cup third-round tie.
Darren Moore
Now in his fifth job in management, Moore will be looking to take Vale back to the third tier at the first time of asking after he joined the club on a five-and-a-half-year contract back in February.
It has been a struggle for Moore so far at Vale Park, with just a 20% win rate so far in the club’s league fixtures, but with summer signings like George Byers and Jayden Stockley, they are showing a strong ambition to contend at the top end.
Player-in-focus
George Byers made the move to Port Vale in the summer, linking back up with Moore under whom he earned promotion to the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday in 2023.
After appearing in 22 games for Wednesday last season, Byers made the switch to Blackpool in January where he made 14 starts for a Tangerines side who narrowly missed out on a play-off position.
Now back under Moore, Byers brings pedigree to a Vale team that lacked leadership and control last season.
