Richard Duffy admits Port Vale didn’t meet their usual high standards on Tuesday night against Millwall.
from their visit to Vale Park.earn Neil Harris’ side three pointsMark Beevers and Lee Gregory each netted in the second half to
The Lions made a fast start under the floodlights as the Vale defence and goalkeeper were forced into action regularly early on.
Speaking to the press following the loss, centre back Duffy said: “We’ve set our standards and we didn’t reach them tonight and that’s probably the most disappointing thing.
“We were nowhere near it first half. As a team we just didn’t get started, they pinned us in and it’s very difficult then.
“If you don’t start with the tempo we had done at home, it’s difficult to get back in the game.
“Saying that, last fifteen minutes of that first half we did gradually get into it. Enoch had a header one minute before half time that could have gone in.
“That would have been totally different but it wasn’t to be and it was a tough night.”
Wales international Duffy has been an ever-present at the heart of Rob Page’s back four this season and the 30-year old admitted he’s pleased with how it’s going as a whole.
“The record is there for itself, we’ve kept I think six clean sheets so we haven’t done an awful lot wrong,” he continued.
“But tonight they’ve had too many chances for our liking really. We had three cleared off the line, one off the bar and Jak’s made some great saves.
“So if you look at it, they could have been five-nil up in the first twenty minutes so that’s too many chances for us.”
The Valiants face a trip to Gigg Lane to face Bury on Saturday and Duffy says the players will be eager to get back to work on Thursday in order to get ready for that clash.
“We’ve got three days to recover now and prepare for that,” he added. “I’m sure we’ll come in on Thursday and the manager will get us out again.”