Port Vale were up against it before the game against MK Dons had even kicked off on Saturday with a string of injuries running through the team.
However, Vale had players waiting in the wings to be used when necessary. Andre Bikey made his debut for Vale after coming on in the first half after signing for the club only 11 days ago.
Manager Michael Brown spoke exclusively to Valiant PlayerHD about Bikey’s premature debut: "He has not played all year, so it was a big risk on our part but I felt that he did well.
We had arranged a game for him on Tuesday, so we could have a look at him in that situation. It wasn’t ideal for him to play as many minutes as he did, but he came through it.”
Despite the injury concerns Vale went into the game with, they earned their first clean sheet since January, and the 40-year old was delighted with his team: “It is great to have a clean sheet it is good to have, and good to have a point, although we would of liked three.
It was not about how good the performance was, because we struggled at times, but it was a gutsy performance from the players.”
With the hard earned point, and clean sheet, Vale reduced the gap between them and Shrewsbury to just one point, and Brown is not relieving any of the pressure that his team are under to stay up: “It is a lot closer, and it is going to be tight.
There will be big games ahead and we have games in hand so it is in our hands, and we have to make them count when we get that chance.”