Captain Tom Conlon looks ahead to our rearranged 7:00pm kick off tonight against Newport County.
“It was another frustrating one on Saturday, it could have easily gone the other way like a lot of the other games – we are so close to switching it up.”
“Cambridge scored a worldie, we had 23 shots against Oldham, Bolton only had 3 shots all game… While things are going against us at the moment, the only way to get out of that is hard work and sticking with it and we have to work harder than ever against Newport and give it everything we have.”
While a first win has still eluded manager Darrell Clarke thus far, a noticeable area of improvement has been the defensive structure and ability for the side to restrict opponents to few chances.
“Minus the Cheltenham game, I think we have been defensively good. The goals scored against us have either been worldies or fortunate strikes.
“We have to start creating more chances and get the ball in the back of the net ourselves, so hopefully we can do that sooner rather than later.”
Vale were reduced to 10 men in our last meeting with Newport County, as Kevin Ellison’s 96th minute strike gave the Exiles all three points back in November.
With the 42-year-old striker popping up for another late strike against his former side Morecambe last time out (with a let’s say, ‘memorable’, celebration directed at his former manager), the skipper is well aware of the need for Vale to start on the front foot.
“We definitely need to come flying out of the blocks. We are at home, we want to get in their faces and make it as tough as possible for them.
“The Gaffer wants us a lot fitter and it’s about striking a balance between resting, being fresh for the game and ultimately improving fitness levels.
“It’s tough for a lot of sides with the current fixture list, but it is down to us as a team to start putting points on the board and improving our league standing as soon as possible.”