Tuesday 6 March 2012 18:00, UK
Port Vale striker Tom Pope wants Stoke fans to cross the Potteries divide and support their bitter rivals against Burton on Tuesday.
Pope, a lifelong Vale fan, said the club needs all the help it can get as it stares squarely in the face of impending administration. And despite the obvious tensions between the two sets of supporters, the 26-year-old stressed without support Stoke may lose their fierce rivals in the not-so-distant future. He told The Sentinel: "I'd welcome Stoke fans at the game. I'm sure there'd be some who wouldn't like that, but in this situation it's all about communities coming together. "Vale fans hate Stoke fans as much as they hate us, but if we don't survive they'll have nobody to have banter with. "It's all about the rivalry, at work and at home, so both clubs need each other, even though one is in the Premier League and the other in League Two."