Uttoxeter’s New Year’s Eve fixture appears to be under serious threat after officials called a precautionary inspection for noon on Saturday due to the prospect of further rain.

In conjunction with the British Horseracing Authority, the Staffordshire venue has already abandoned the chases that were originally scheduled to take place, leaving a card comprising of five hurdle races and a National Hunt Flat race.

However, with the going described as heavy and some “small areas of standing water” on the track on Friday morning, there is no guarantee racing will take place at all at this stage.

Clerk of the Course Richard Fothergill said: “We’ve got a mainly dry day forecast today, but tomorrow is a challenge.

“Some forecasts are giving up to 20 millimetres of rain (on Saturday), which we couldn’t take. We need the absolute bottom end of the forecast to have a chance.

“It looks like a lot of rain is going to come after 12pm, but we’re going to assess it then, as we may have had a few showers in the morning.

“It’s a hugely supported raceday in the local community, so it’s such a shame. We’ll do what we can and give it every chance, but as I say, we do need the absolute best of the forecast.”

Goals in each half from Gavin Massey and substitute Lewis Cass saw Port Vale through to the second round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 replay win over Staffordshire rivals Burton.

Massey finally broke the deadlock in the 31st minute after Burton keeper Max Crocombe had made a double save from Uche Ikpeazu and Tom Sang. The winger reacted quickest to the loose ball to leave the Albion stopper with no chance and put Vale in charge of the game.

The visitors had to weather plenty of early pressure from the Brewers but crucially did not concede, allowing them to grow into the game and begin to dominate.

The goal was a reward for Vale’s attacking after Ikpeazu had missed a sitter on the rebound after Rhys Walters has forced another good save, and Ethan Chislett squandered a good chance on the stroke of half-time, firing wastefully wide.

Cole Stockton was denied an equaliser by the flag of the assistant early in the second half as Albion sought parity but Vale finally made sure of victory when Cass converted Sang’s low cross with eight minutes remaining to set up a meeting with fellow League One side Stevenage.

Crewe missed all four spot-kicks as they crashed out 2-0 on penalties to local rivals Port Vale in the Carabao Cup after the Staffordshire derby ended goalless in normal time.

It was a horror show for the visitors at Vale Park as Elliott Nevitt blasted over the bar before Connor Ripley produced a good save to keep out Chris Long’s penalty.

Rio Adebisi rattled the bar and Joel Tabiner’s miss ended their misery.

Thomas Sang failed with Vale’s third spot-kick after James Wilson and Oliver Arblaster scored the first two.

The hosts had the majority of the chances but couldn’t break down the Railwaymen inside 90 minutes.

Adebisi wasted a great chance to fire the visitors ahead as he poked over from close range.

Down the other end, Crewe goalkeeper Harvey Davies produced a good save to keep out Alex Iacovitti’s header at the back post.

Vale made a triple change to try and force a result but saw former Manchester United man Wilson’s audacious effort barely trouble Davies.

The Crewe stopper once again frustrated Wilson after Sheffield United loanee Arblaster found the striker.

Arblaster’s long-range strike flew just over the bar with five minutes to go before penalties decided the outcome.