Port Vale remain the only side in League Two who are unbeaten at home, after they stretched their run to nine games without defeat at Vale Park yesterday afternoon.
The Vale now only sit outside of the play-offs on goal difference, and their form at home has been vital to their recent climb up the league table.
Out of their 28 points picked up so far this season, 19 have been won at home and to put that into context, the Valiants only picked up 24 points at home across the whole of last season, and Askey have emphasised how much of a turnaround this year has proved.
The gaffer also stressed the importance of sending the home fans away happy as it keeps the feel-good factor amongst the supporters.
“It’s a big turnaround from last year as well, we said at the start of the season that home form is going to be vital. You want to send your home supporters away happy because that hasn’t been the case in the past, it keeps the feel-good factor going.
“The supporters are really getting behind us now, they can sense that something is happening, we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing now.
“The main thing is that we’re staying amongst it. If come January we’re still in and around it then we can start to get excited. We’ve just got to keep our heads down, keep ploughing on and the players keep doing what we’re doing, and we should be okay.”
Askey’s men fell behind within thirty seconds yesterday afternoon, yet his players showcased terrific character to fight back and claim all three points, epitomising the never say die attitude within the squad.
The gaffer has praised the spirit of his squad and says that they will be confident they can win games no matter the deficit.
Askey also credited the players’ fitness and admitted that it allowed the players to dig deep late on to secure the win.
“Obviously to concede so early, it knocked us down a bit but gradually the players responded really well. First half we really should have had three or four and when you go in at half-time, you just think its going to be one of those days.
“In the second half, obviously I was able to call upon Popey [Tom Pope] and Mark Cullen and you know, that made the difference. Mark’s record is really good, goals per game. Hopefully we can keep him fit because his goals can make a huge difference to us. It was great to see him go on and it’s great standing on the side lines knowing you’ve got Popey and Mark on the bench.
“When you score late on it gives confidence that no matter what the stage of the game, we’ve got to keep on going. The players will be confident now that they can still win games, and that’s what good sides do. I think again that it shows how fit they are, scoring late on like that, it’s down to fitness and that attitude that we are not going to lie down, we believe that we can win games."