John Gregory has warned his side not to take any team managed by former Albion boss Micky Adams lightly.

The Reds travel to Port Vale tonight looking to put behind them a run of three successive defeats without scoring.

Port Vale are out of form at the moment, following a 5-0 thrashing at Bristol City last week with a 1-1 draw at bottom-of-the-table Stevenage on Saturday.

But Gregory still expects a tough game tonight.

He said: “Port Vale had a bit of a spanking at Bristol City. I know Micky Adams very well. He won’t take many prisoners in his own dressing room, let alone with the opposition.

“I would imagine he has taken a bit of paint off the walls after the Bristol City match and we will expect a very tough game.

“I managed against him in the Premier League when he was at Leicester and also when he was at Fulham and I was with Wycombe.

“Micky is working on a very tight budget but everyone that plays for Mick has to earn the right to wear the shirt. If they are not working hard, they will be sat next to Mick on the bench.

“When you play against Micky’s teams they are very hard-working sides and it won’t be easy for us to go to Vale Park on the back of a disappointing result.”

Kyle McFadzean will again be missing tonight as he serves the second of a two-game ban but Gregory is hoping to have Matt Tubbs and Paul Connolly back in contention after they missed Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Preston with fatigue-related injuries.