Port Vale boss Andy Crosby is 'looking forward' to a reunion with former employers Reading on Saturday.

Crosby, who only took over at Vale on a full-time basis over the summer, was a long-time assistant manager under Nigel Adkins.

Working together at Southampton, Sheffield United and Hull City, they both took in an 18-month spell in Berkshire from March 2013 until December 2014- including a period in the Premier League.

A decade on and both parties find themselves in League One, but Crosby is hoping the club have their off-field issues sorted.

"The first home game and one we’re looking forward to against opponent’s I’ve represented before," he told local media. "A former Premier League team who, when I was there, had been promoted to the Premier League and were a really well-run football club under Sir John Madejski. It’s had issues off the pitch in recent times, which everyone is aware of, but they’ve been taken over and are starting to recruit players back in. They obviously had a troublesome pre-season in terms of planning but their recruitment has now started.

"They lost their opening game against Peterborough but responded really well against Millwall on Tuesday. To go to a Championship team and win 4-0 is obviously a really good result so they are a team we really look forward to taking on, a team we respect, and hope for a good game."

Losing 7-0 to Barnsley on the opening day, Vale bounced back from the Oakwell hammering by beating Fleetwood Town in midweek and progressing to round two of the Carabao Cup.

Similarly, Reading lost their opening league clash to Peterborough, but convincingly thrashed a strong Millwall side 4-0 at the Den.

Looking at the game in South-East London, Crosby is expecting a different proposition in Burslem.

"We do a lot of work on the opposition throughout their pre-season and opening two games in terms of the team selection. Tuesday night was totally different to last Saturday’s but they have identified a style of play which is evident and we’ve prepared for."