Port Vale defender Shaun Brisley vows to be ready for his chance to impress as he looks to compete for his place in the team.
The defender has only made one appearance so far since joining in the 3-2 away win at Macclesfield in the Leasing.com Trophy, but manager John Askey has emphasised he was keen to work on his fitness before rushing him back having not had a pre-season.
Despite not having much involvement in Vale’s start to the campaign, Brisley admits that he will keep pushing the current back-four to continue performing to the best of their ability.
Squad depth is key for Vale this season as frequent injuries have proved to be an issue for John Askey’s side so far this term, and Brisley is adamant his is ready to prove himself when the time comes.
He said: “Leggey and Smudge [Nathan Smith], they’ve done brilliantly so far this season from what I’ve seen, I’ve just come in and I want to keep pushing them to keep performing to the best of their ability.
“When you’ve been there done that sort of thing, you can pass on a bit of information that is only going to help them out and help improve them as players as well, but from what I’ve seen so far this season I’ve been really impressed with the whole back four.
“At the minute I’m just focusing on getting myself as fit as I possibly can, biding my time and when my opportunity arises hopefully impressing and cementing a place and kicking on doing well for the time.”
The 29-year-old has experienced his own highs and lows throughout his career and admits that the squad possesses qualities that can bring success to Vale Park.
Brisley was quick to point out the togetherness of the squad, which he states is key if the squad want to achieve anything this campaign.
The centre-half has spent a lot his career in and around League Two and admits that he knew what he was expecting before joining the club.
He said: “The lads here are a great bunch, everyone is tight-knit, everyone gets on with each other and everyone is willing to work hard for each other, if you’ve got those basic foundations in a football club, its going to bring you success.
“When you’ve played at this level for a long time you get to know players and their style of play and you know before you come into the building, if you know one or two you know what you’re expecting from them.
“But like you say before, we’ve got good quality in this team to achieve something good this season.”