- Darrell Clarke | "We said we would come here and take the game to them and we did that"
- Vale manager speaks to the press following 2-2 draw at Fratton Park
- Clarke: "I am pleased with the performance as a whole"
Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke said that despite being disappointed the Valiants didn’t walk away with all three points, he will be taking plenty of positives out of his side's performance against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday.
The Vale went into the break two goals to the good and having also saved a penalty in what was an eventful end to the first half, but two second half goals from the hosts meant the points were shared at Fratton Park.
Speaking to the press post-match, Clarke said:
“It was a good point but there is a lot of disappointment in the changing rooms because we wanted it to be all three.
“We said we would come here and take the game to them and we did that. It was a really bright first half, on the front foot, and we scored a couple of goals. We were under a bit of pressure in the second half, we would have liked to have more territory in the second half but it didn’t quite fall for us. I am pleased with the performance as a whole.
“It was only a five or ten-minute spell in the second half where we gave a penalty away and they scored. We didn’t collapse after that, that is a pleasing aspect.
“Portsmouth is always a tough place to play when their fans get going. We wanted to come here and have a right good go. Nearly 800 of our fans came here and watched us have a good go. That is why the boys got clapped off at the end.
“A lot of people would’ve said that If you go down to Portsmouth and pick up a point, it would’ve been a very, very good point; it’s always a tough place to come, we’re just disappointed we let a two goal lead slip."
Talking about the Aidan Stone’s penalty save in the first half he added praise for the club's analysis department.
“Stoney pulled off a good save from the penalty," Clarke explained. "Callum Brown does a lot of work on opposing penalties and sometimes you get your rewards from that. Aidan [Stone] was close to getting the second one as well.
“It was a strong performance from Aidan and a strong performance from a lot of the players.”
The gaffer also had praise for Sammy Robinson who featured in the back three for the Valiants as opposed to his regular right wing back role.
“You have to take into consideration we are a bit depleted at the back and Sammy has done brilliant on the right side of a three. The lads have given their all, everyone can see that we would’ve liked a few more wins the second half of the season but we’ve got eight games to go to see how high up the league we can get.”