Dior Angus returned to his former club on Friday night as a youthful Vale side played Redditch United in a pre-season friendly, and the striker bagged the Valiants’ only goal of the game during the 1-1 stalemate.
The 24-year-old eventually found the net via the penalty spot with the last kick of the first half, but on a night where he had plenty of chances, it was Redditch’s goalkeeper, Louis Connor who was on hand to limit his goal tally.
“He was excellent tonight! Both keepers were actually and Sam Hornby pulled off some very good saves as well, but I’ll have to have a word with Louis about that,” said Angus.
“It’s great to score really, but it was good to be back and to see the club moving forward with a new manager is great.
“I had to step up and take the penalty to put one away. I’ve scored a few in that goal before, so I thought it would be nice to stick one away again.
As well as getting himself on the scoresheet, Angus got some vital minutes into his legs ahead of the 2018/19 campaign with his night lasting around an hour.
With just weeks to go until the Sky Bet League Two season gets under way, the striker is focused on impressing the manager and he hopes some of the young prospects at the club can catch the eye too.
He said: “I think the first few games are all about avoiding injury, seeing how fit you feel, and just getting into the swing of things. Then your touch and scoring goals end up coming in the end.
“The Redditch team are men, so it’s a big thing for the young lads to play against players of that experience. You just have to try and help them along, and if they listen, it helps them.
“My aim now is just to get as fit as possible, keep training hard and hopefully get some good performances under my belt to show the gaffer I can be on the team sheet come August.”