Last night, Vale got their Checkatrade Trophy campaign off to a winning start at Vale Park, overcoming category one side, Derby County.
Nathan Smith scored his second goal of the season with a fine header at the back post with just ten minutes remaining.
Smith was one of just five players to keep their place from the victory against Scunthorpe, as Bruno Ribeiro made six changes.
These changes didn’t effect the results, as another win and another clean sheet came Vale’s way.
First Team Coach, Andy Smith spoke to Valiant Player after the game and said despite victory, Vale can be a lot better.
He said: “The most important thing was to get the win.
“Our tempo wasn’t what we wanted, but we made a few changes and as I said on the plus note we got the win, but we can be a lot better than that.
“Sebastien Amoros was very good and so was Sam Hart was until he got injured, he looked promising but as I said its important we got the win.
“We keep our momentum going and we did make enough chances to win two or three games, which was disappointing.”
The match also saw a change in formation for Ribeiro’s side, as the management team took a look at the 4-4-2, which Smith said on reflection may not be the answer.
He added: “We went 4-4-2 last night to take a look at a different solution, but we can see maybe we’re better with the 4-3-3.
“With the 4-4-2 we brought in another striker to see how he would link up and how other players can cope with that, with the space in midfield.
“But they played with three in midfield and they caught us out on a few occasions in the game.”