Assistant manager says the Vale looking for a response to last weekend’s defeat at Oxford United when Darrell Clarke’s side host Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
- Andy Crosby | “We have always responded in the right way and want to get back to doing the basics well”
- Port Vale assistant manager on responding to defeat at Oxford United, the visit of Charlton Athletic and his side being more ruthless in both boxes
- Crosby: “I think this group of players has had setbacks before and has always responded in the right way. That comes down to the mentality of the group and the culture that we have built around the place.”
Port Vale assistant manager Andy Crosby says the Vale will be looking for a response when they host Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
The Vale were beaten 4-0 at Oxford United last weekend – a first away defeat in four – and will be looking to respond when the Addicks visit Vale Park this weekend.
Speaking to the press ahead of this weekend’s game, Crosby said:
“I think this group of players has had setbacks before and has always responded in the right way. That comes down to the mentality of the group and the culture that we have built around the place.
“It is a game we are looking forward to on the back of a disappointing performance last week and an even more disappointing result. Playing against one of the big boys in the league gives a real chance to get back to doing the basics really well and making ourselves harder to beat. We are conceding too many goals over the last few weeks.”
Crosby said the Vale are looking to be more ruthless in both boxes, with their chances created high and chances conceded low, albeit that hasn’t always reflected in results in the opening three months of the season.
“I think we do deserve a few more points,” Crosby explained. “Unfortunately you don’t just get what you deserve, you have to earn points as well and we have certainly looked back at a few games and think we have missed out on opportunities.
“It is constant evaluation of our performances from each game and how we can improve. Football has a really good habit of letting you look at one thing and thinking you have solved the problem and then another little hole appears. It is constantly evaluating where we are and where we are trying to get to because we are trying to evolve as a football club and team, and the players are trying to grow.
“I think you can see the ruthless nature of the attacking players [in League One]; we don’t concede many opportunities on our goal and if you look at the team at the top of the league, they are more than double the shots on their goal they have had against them, compared to us.
“We are doing a lot of things really well and we are trying to improve and find the right answers - sometimes you get a kicking when you perhaps don’t deserve it. There were even moments in last week’s game where had we scored, the game would have become different, but they scored at good times, we missed opportunities and the game ran away from us a little bit.”
The Vale host a Charlton Athletic side managed by Ben Garner, who managed Swindon Town to the semi-finals of the League Two Play-Offs last season, where they were beaten by the Vale over two legs.
On Garner’s Charlton side, who have lost just once in their last ten games, Crosby said he is expecting a difficult test.
“Teams have different styles, different threats and weaknesses,” he added. “We do our homework on the next opponent, analyse their strengths and weaknesses with the principles with which they want to play.
“Ben [Garner] has come from Swindon last year, playing a certain style and formation. Charlton play a different formation but very much within those principles of what Swindon did so they’ll be a tough opponent but one we are looking forward to.
“We respect every single opponent in the league; you have to earn the right to play in every single game and do the basics really well to enable you to flourish within the game.
“We analyse every team and the two lads in the analysis team [Michael Johnson and Callum Brown] do an incredible amount of work to help us prepare for games so we can feed that back to the players.”