'Keeper's clean sheet first at home since March
Goalkeeper Sam Johnson has enjoyed his spell in goal as cover for regular ‘keeper Chris Neal even though it may not be a permanent thing.
He knows he will probably have to move aside once Neal is pronounced fit, but he certainly hasn’t done his prospects any harm so far.
His penalty save against Rotherham on Sunday went a long way to earning the Valiants their second win of the festive period – and he kept Vale’s first clean sheet at Vale Park since early March.
Sam said: “It was a great win for the lads and it gets us further up that table and we are looking for promotion really, but it was a great performance and a great result.
“It is always nice to put on a performance for the fans and to get back to back wins is the best we could have done really.
“The lads have done terrific so far and no one wants to jinx it, but I think we would like to think we can push on and get in the play-offs if we can and keep performances high and carry on like this.
“I was hoping to get a couple more really but it is nice to get one under my belt, especially at home in front of the fans.
“I am enjoying it – it’s nice getting some games under my belt and I think I have done pretty well since I have come in.
“Every game I have got a bit better, more confident and I would like to think the defence have got confidence in me as well.”
And the penalty save? How much did the 21-year-old ‘keeper know about it? Sam revealed he watched clips of Kieran Agard’s penalties before the game, not that it helped all that much.
He said: “When we came in from the warm-up the analyst showed us a few clips of his penalties so you have just got to make your mind up really.
“I watched a few clips before we went out – he went left on one and right on the other one so it was just a lucky guess really and thankfully I went the right way.
“I tried to look at his run up and see if I could notice anything, but I just went the right way and I thought it went underneath me to be fair, I couldn’t see the ball behind me.”