Andy Smith - "They Made An Immediate Impact"

This past weekend saw the return to the centre of midfield for Paulo Tavares and Anthony Grant.

The two had both been out injured and missed the game against Bury a week before their return against Peterborough.

Their influence in midfield was spoken about by First Team Coach Andy Smith, who said how important they are to the team.

He said: “They’re experienced and important players for us and you could see they knitted things together.

“They’ve missed a few games, but they’re experience is very important and they’re quality showed in the game.”

The game ended in a 2-2 draw, after Alex Jones scored a late penalty to earn a well-deserved point for the Valiants.

Jones is now the clubs top scorer with four goals this season for Vale and Smith was happy with the confidence the striker is showing.

“He’s doing very well, he is a great professional and just wants to play football and he’s enjoying his football.

“He scored a good goal and in the 93rd minute he grabbed the ball for the penalty and showed good courage and tucked it away nicely.”

The penalty came after a brilliant fight back from Vale, who were unlucky to concede late on.

Bruno Ribeiro changed things up and brought on off the bench, Rigino Cicilia, Quentin Pereira and Sebastien Amoros.

The fresh players helped build up the momentum to earning the equaliser, something which was noticed by Andy.

“They made an immediate impact.

“We asked them to go out and put in a performance and put in a shift for your teammates and they were fantastic.

“All three of them when they came on, they caused them problems and we basically got the penalty through there energy they put in.”