Dave Kevan: Nothing’s been accomplished yet

Dave Kevan: Nothing’s been accomplished yet

Assistant manager Dave Kevan stressed the importance of not getting carried away with the strong start Vale have made to the season, and staying focused to maintain form.

The Valiants have begun the season in impressive fashion, sitting ninth in the league and advancing to the third round in both the Leasing.com Trophy and FA Cup.

Although the achievements are pleasing to Kevan and everyone at the club, the assistant gaffer emphasised how the club must keep their feet on the ground and keep taking things one game at a time.

The Valiants have already come a long way from last season where they were battling against relegation but Kevan discussed how the season is only just reaching the halfway point and there’s still a long way to go.

Kevan also highlighted the development that has been shown by a number of players under manager John Askey and discussed how impressive the continual progression has been this season.

He said: “We’re only just coming up to halfway through the season so we’re happy with how things are going, delighted, but there’s a long way to go yet.

“Nothing’s been achieved yet, we’re just going along quite nicely, as we’ve said we’re quite happy with how things are at the moment but there’s another game tomorrow.

“We’re always looking to improve, whether that be more clean sheets or scoring more goals, that’s an endless task, every time we come into work we’re looking to be better.

“They’ve [the players] taken on board what the gaffer and the rest of the staff have tried to put in place, they’ve gone about their work tremendously well so we’re delighted for everyone at the moment.”

Up next for the Vale, they host Walsall and Kevan is confident for the fixture given the Valiants form at Vale Park this season, as the only League Two side unbeaten at home.

Kevan credited the impressive home form to hard work, consistency and the confidence that comes from winning games, along with the large boost given by the Vale fans each game.

Despite Vale’s home run though, Kevan pointed out how Walsall are a strong opposition who will be a challenge to defeat, having only been relegated from League One last season with a high level squad.

He said: “Hard work, a little bit of consistency with our team, the pattern of how we play, obviously some good fortune along the way as well because every team needs that and we’ve just enjoyed putting a show on in front of our home fans.

“We made a point pre-season, we targeted areas we felt we needed to improve from previous campaigns so it was important that we sorted our home form out and thankfully so far we’ve done that.

“Every game’s tough, regardless of league positions, that’s irrelevant at this stage, we know that Walsall have some good players and it’s another tough game for us.”