Scott Brown expressed how pleased he was to pick up his third clean sheet of the season, but was disappointed that the team could not claim all three points against Oldham Athletic.
Vale's number one felt the team have been unfortunate to not have more clean sheets at this stage, with the last two goals they have conceded coming from the penalty spot rather than open play.
The joy of the clean sheet was somewhat overshadowed for Brown however as the Vale were held to a difficult draw by the Lactics, extending the home unbeaten run to eight games, but preventing back to back wins following Tuesday’s victory at Bradford City, with Oldham’s approach to the game frustrating Vale and making it hard for the team to play their football.
The game reminded Brown of when Stevenage travelled to Vale Park last season under now Oldham manager Dino Maamria, with the same style of tactics such as players going down injured and sitting with 11 men behind the ball again being employed.
The result sees Vale sit 11th in the league, and Brown spoke about how he feels the season has been decent so far, saying that things could be worse but there is still room for improvement as they work towards their aim of a Play-Off finish.
He said: “Clean sheet’s always a nice bonus, we’ve been solid the last three or four games and disappointed to not get more clean sheets with the two penalties we’ve had against us, the clean sheet’s a positive but we wanted the win and we’re ultimately disappointed.
“Any momentum we got going they [Oldham] killed it, they chucked bodies on the floor, it’s what they did at Stevenage last year, I don’t know what the common denominator is there but obviously frustrating and a difficult one to not win the game.
“It’s [the season so far] been ok, could’ve been better, could’ve been worse, there’s always things to work on as there is after every game, but on the clean sheet front obviously you want more but you want to win games of football and pick up points and as long as the team’s doing that then that’s the most important thing.”
The defensive trio of Scott Brown with Leon Legge and Nathan Smith in front of him have been ever-present so far this season and Brown expressed how much he enjoys playing with the pair, and how they work well as a unit who make sure they all protect one another at all times.
The next test for the defensive group is a trip to local rivals Crewe Alexandra next Saturday, and Brown hopes the teams recent form of five points from a possible nine will help boost the players as they head to Gresty Road.
Vale’s visit to Crewe is one the players are looking forward to as it is a local derby where they will again be backed by a strong support, but the Alex currently sit top of the table with an eight game unbeaten run and Brown emphasised how all the team know just how good they have been this season and how challenging the game will be.
He said: “We [Brown, Legge and Smith] all know each other’s strengths and weakness and how we can help each other out, they’ve been fantastic and obviously we’re disappointed to not have more clean sheets than we did last year but it’s just the way we’re playing, we’re a lot more open and a lot more adventurous.
“It’s going to be a fantastic atmosphere next week and it’s one we’ll really look forward to but we’ll get in Monday morning, look back on today and look forward to what is going to be a great game next week.
“They’re [Crewe] top of the league and they’re top for a reason, they’ve got some fantastic young players with pace up front, in years gone by you could’ve said we’ll go to Crewe and we’ll just pick a big team and bully them but that’s not the case this year… it’s a great game and hopefully we can send the fans home happy.”