Defender says the Vale players are gutted to exit the Papa Johns Trophy at last 16 stage and stresses importance of Darrell Clarke’s side finding another reaction following 1-0 defeat at Salford City.
- Connor Hall | “We need to be more consistent and we’ll work hard to be ready for Boxing Day”
- Port Vale defender speaks to the press following his side’s 1-0 defeat at Salford City in the Papa Johns Trophy Round of 16
- Hall: “It was tough and it has hurt us in there; we didn’t do enough in the game to warrant getting the win.”
Port Vale defender Connor Hall called for more consistency from the Vale after Darrell Clarke’s side lost 1-0 at Salford City in the Papa Johns Trophy Round of 16.
Hall was speaking after Matt Smith’s 10th minute header inflicted a second consecutive 1-0 defeat on the Vale, who had won their previous three matches before their loss at Bristol Rovers in League One last time out.
Speaking post-match with iFollow the Vale, Hall said:
“We have come back from bad performances already this season; we have had good reactions but we need to stop it from happening, so we are not having to make reactions. We need to stay consistent and we will be on the training pitch working hard towards Boxing Day.
“Bristol Rovers we could have took the lead and gone one or two up and then it is a different game, and again today we had chances to get back into the game and it didn’t happen for us. We will go back to the drawing board, we’ll work hard – we always do – and hopefully we’ll bounce back.”
Hall says the players were hurting post-match, with Clarke’s side missing the opportunity to move within two games of Wembley by losing out at the Peninsula Stadium.
“It was tough and it has hurt us in there; we didn’t do enough in the game to warrant getting the win,” he continued.
“I think we were pushing towards the end and created a few chances but to be fair to them they defended well, put their bodies on the line and it didn’t quite come for us.
“We said at half-time that we thought we could get a goal back and go on and win the game but the more the game panned out, it was looking they would win the game 1-0 and that’s what happened.
“We felt we could have gone really far in this competition and that is why we are all so gutted in there because we felt that if we had performed better, we’d have got the result and gone to Cheltenham.
“You enter these competitions and you want to go and win them; the fans might not turn up as much in the group stage games but look what we brought here tonight, because you are getting closer to Wembley, and everybody wants to play at Wembley.”