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The Bulls entertain Port Vale on Boxing Day looking for some Christmas cheer.
The two sides hadn't met in the League for 24 years before being paired together for three straight seasons currently. Out of the four matches in that spell so far three have been drawn, with the Valiants winning the other. Last season the Burslem side had to come back from behind on both occasions, with industrial striker Tom Pope battering home the ball in the last minute to earn a share of the spoils at Vale Park in March. At the Edgar Street fixture last October, Sean Canham was hero and villain as he scored and was later sent off in conceding the penalty that the Valiants equalised from.
The Bulls will be hoping for good news from Blackpool over the future of loan man Tom Barkhuizen. The teenager has seven goals from 17 appearances, far ahead of second-top scorer Yoann Arquin's three, and wants to stay at Edgar Street but both he and boss Jamie Pitman await news from Ian Holloway. With Michael Townsend suspended, Pitman will have to reshuffle the defence again and is likely to pair Ryan Green with Benoit Dalibard in the centre. Despite being at the club since August, it would be Dalibard's first start on the Edgar Street turf.
The Valiants shrugged off their off-field problems to demolish a sorry Aldershot side last week, with familiar face Guy Madjo scoring a hat-trick. A trio of former Bulls are in the Valiants side, with fellow Stevenage loanee Jennison Myrie-Williams joining Lee Collins and John McCombe at Vale Park in recent weeks. Regular top scorer Marc Richards is just returning to fitness after a month long layoff.
Hereford United vs Port Vale, Edgar Street, Monday 26th December, 1.30pm.
