Port Vale face Sunderland next, with FA Cup momentum reshaping survival focus

Port Vale will step into a rare, high-attention Sunday at Vale Park with relegation worries briefly pushed aside and a quarter-final place suddenly within reach. As of 9: 10 a. m. ET Sunday, Port Vale had confirmed changes to the side that won in extra time midweek, setting up a fifth-round FA Cup test against Sunderland in front of a crowd expected to brush 12, 000.

Vale Park’s crowd and spotlight shift Port Vale’s short-term priorities

The immediate change is the scale of the occasion. After an extra-time win over Bristol City on Tuesday, Port Vale moved from a week focused on a “crucial game” in their battle to avoid relegation from League One to a Sunday cup tie that head coach Jon Brady framed as a chance for supporters to “go home talking about” the performance.

That shift is visible in the stands as much as on the pitch. The club sold more than 10, 000 tickets for the Sunderland tie in the days following the Bristol City win, with attendance expected to brush the 12, 000 mark at Vale Park in the Stoke suburb of Burslem. Andre Gray described the day as a “carnival atmosphere, ” arguing that for one game “all that [relegation battle] gets forgotten. ”

Still, the club’s cup run is being treated as more than a distraction. There is a sense around the stadium that the momentum and energy from the FA Cup could carry into the fight to stay in League One, even as Brady asked for a performance that can be “memorable” and create “special memories that will live long. ”

Andre Gray and Ben Waine bring experience and form into Sunderland test

Port Vale’s attacking options come with two different kinds of pedigree: immediate match-winning impact and big-occasion experience. Ben Waine scored the 111th-minute goal that decided the Bristol City tie, and Gray’s pass released him for that extra-time winner, a decisive contribution after the striker arrived at the club a month ago.

Gray, 34, also brings an FA Cup reference point few in the squad can match. He played in the 2019 final with Watford and said he is “forever proud” of helping his former club reach that stage, even while still “a little sore” about the day itself, a 6-0 loss to Manchester City. For Port Vale, that kind of experience is being positioned as preparation for a game that can tip from a one-off event into a deeper run: “We’re one game away from the quarter-finals, ” Gray said.

Brady, meanwhile, framed the moment in personal terms as well as club history. He recalled scoring a 40-yard “fluke” in the FA Cup against Sheffield United during his playing career for Rushden & Diamonds, and said Tuesday’s win over Bristol City will “live long” in the memories of players and fans. The hectic week even forced him to move plans around after the midweek result, with Brady noting he had previously signed up to run the Cambridge half marathon on Sunday while preparing for the London Marathon.

Regis Le Bris and confirmed XIs set the immediate tactical picture

Sunday’s match arrives with confirmed team news that changes the immediate on-field picture for both sides. Port Vale made three changes from the team that beat Bristol City 1-0 after 120 minutes in midweek: Tyler Magloire, Jordan Shipley and Martin Sherif were replaced by Dajaune Brown, Funso Ojo and Kyle John.

Port Vale’s XI was listed as: Gauci, C. Hall, Gabriel, Brown, Archer, Walters, Ojo, Gordon, Waine, John, Humphreys. The substitutes were named as: Amos, Headley, Shipley, Campbell, Ward, G. Hall, Magloire, Gray, Hernandez.

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris made two changes to the side that beat Leeds 1-0 on Tuesday, bringing in Chris Rigg and Chemsdine Talbi for Trai Hume and Noah Sadiki. Sunderland’s XI was listed as: Ellborg, O’Nien, Ballard, Alderete, Geertruida, Rigg, Le Fee, Diarra, Talbi, Angulo, Mayenda. The substitutes were named as: Moore, J. Jones, Xhaka, Whittaker, Aleksic, H. Jones, Isidor, Geragusian, Abdullahi.

The stakes are clear in the framing around the tie: Port Vale are in the fifth round for the first time in 30 years and now face Sunderland at Vale Park on Sunday, with kick-off listed as 1: 30 p. m. local time (8: 30 a. m. ET). Gray described FA Cup occasions as “massive, ” adding that the atmosphere in England’s cup competition stands apart from his experience playing cup matches abroad.

For now, the club’s recent history is being used as a measure for what success would look like. Plaques and walls around Vale Park mark the 1996 victory against Everton under John Rudge, a 2-1 win in a fourth-round replay after holding the Cup holders at Goodison Park. That match stood as the last time Port Vale reached the fifth round until the midweek win over Bristol City opened the door to a new chapter against Sunderland.

The next turning point is the match itself: Port Vale vs Sunderland at Vale Park on Sunday, with the 1: 30 p. m. local kick-off (8: 30 a. m. ET) set to decide whether the club reaches the FA Cup quarter-finals. If Port Vale turn Tuesday’s extra-time momentum into another win, the club’s season will shift again—this time from a brief spotlight to a deeper run that could further lift the mood around their League One survival fight.