Midfielder waiting for his chance
Midfielder Chris Birchall wants Vale to pile the pressure on Colchester United from the start on Saturday after the Essex club lost 5-1 at home in the Capital One Cup first-round against Peterborough United.
Birchall who announced his international retirement is confident Vale can get at least a point from the match and the 29-year-old has backed the travelling away fans to create a great atmosphere at the Colchester Community Stadum.
“I don’t know if they swapped the team around but they got a good thumping in midweek at home, so the confidence will be down a bit.
“Then again they won their first game in the league so maybe for us there’s a little less pressure away from home.
“We can go out and play and the ascendancy is on them to get at us and attack and get the three points,” he told Valiant Player.
“If we do get some kind of result, two points or four points from the first two games isn’t bad at all.”
With the addition of midfielders Chris Lines and Anthony Griffith, along with captain Doug Loft there is considerable amount of competition for places in the heart of the midfield, Birchall who has started both matches on the bench believes his chance will come.
“I’ve started the first two games on the bench so really I’ve just got to try and get into the first-team, there are a number of good players here, and the gaffer has made some good signings.
“For me I’ve just got to be patient, he gives everyone a chance.”
The now former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder also backed Vale’s huge away following to continue in Sky Bet League 1.
Almost 400 tickets have been sold for Saturday’s trip.
“With the fans that we take away, thousands of fans, a credit to them, hopefully it’ll be a good atmosphere and we can get a good result,” Birchall said.
“I’m from the area, I just want to do well and hopefully push us up to the top half of League 1 and pushing towards the Championship in the next couple of years.”
The midfielder is now confident he can try and force his way into the Vale starting 11 having ended his international career.
Birchall was part of the Trinidad and Tobago squad that reached the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup this summer, but as consequence missed five weeks of Micky Adams’ pre-season.
Birchall explained: “It was a hard decision, I’ve been thinking about it for quite a considerable amount of time and really with the Gold Cup now finished, I just thought it was becoming more and more difficult every time travelling all the way to Trinidad to these games.”
He added: “Getting my place here at Port Vale then going and losing my place then coming back and fighting for it again, especially signing one-year contracts.
“I’ve had a great eight years with Trinidad.”