Northern Ireland U21 international excited to showcase his ability at Vale Park in familiar playing style after joining on loan from Nottingham Forest.
- Aaron Donnelly | “The system here really suits me”
- 19-year-old defender completed loan move from Nottingham Forest earlier on Monday
- Donnelly: “I met all the lads this morning; they’re excellent and Cros [Andy Crosby] has been telling me how good they are, what a good culture you have in the club and the way the club is moving forward.”
Left-sided defender Aaron Donnelly says the Vale’s playing style will be a good fit for him after joining Darrell Clarke’s side on loan from Nottingham Forest on Monday.
Donnelly, 19, is highly though of at the City Ground and signed a new professional contract in December after impressing in the Reds first team and Under 21s this season.
The Northern Irish defender was welcomed to Vale Park on Monday by his former U21 coach, Andy Crosby, and he says that Vale’s assistant manager played a big part in his decision to head to Burslem.
“Everything has gone well; I was greeted by Cros this morning, he gave me a big handshake! I haven’t seen him for a little while since working together with Northern Ireland U21s,” Donnelly explained.
“I met all the lads; they’re excellent and Cros has been telling me how good they are, what a good culture you have in the club and the way the club is moving forward.
“Cros played a key role [in Donnelly joining Vale]; I have been in a few camps with him, played two games under him against Scotland and he brings the same relationship we had before into here and I know Port Vale play the same way we played.
“This system really suits me; I am a left-sided defender, I like to attack, I like to defend and I am really aggressive.
“I feel this loan is the next step in my development; playing in the first team at Nottingham Forest in pre-season and being in and around it, you see what you really need to do to play in the league. I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to go out and showcase what I can do.
“Both attacking and defending, I like to be aggressive; going up the pitch with overlaps and underlaps, providing crosses and getting into the box.”