Neil Aspin admits that he was relieved to grab all three points from the 2-1 win against Chesterfield yesterday.
Ben Whitfield scored the winning goal in a crunch game between the two League Two candidates after Danny Pugh opened up the scoring in the first half.
The three points have point The Valiants eight points adrift of the drop zone as Aspin expresses his delight over the win.
He said: “It’s been a long time coming.
“It’s been frustrating and very difficult. We all lose confidence when we’re not winning games, you always think when your next win will come. If you could choose which game I would want to win to would have been today – it was a massive game.
“The players deserve a lot of praise because they have shown a lot of character and have battled for the cause earning all three points.”
The gaffer was also quick to pay credit for Whitfield who made an excellent impact after coming off the bench to end up scoring the winner infront of the delighted Valiant faithful.
“I’m really pleased for Ben,” said Aspin.
“People look from the outside when players are not playing and think that there might be a fall out with the manager but that isn’t the case. Ben’s been frustrated because he wants to play.
“But when he came on, I thought he was excellent.”
It’s derby-day next for Vale as we travel to Crewe Alexandra on Monday. The gaffer says he is expecting a tough encounter away from home.
He said: “I’ve seen Crewe play a number of times this season.
“They play good football, they’ve got some good players and they will pass the ball, so it’s a tough game and we have to give the crowd something to shout about.”