Port Vale Manger John Askey said he thought his side did “really well” against Premier League opposition Burnley on Saturday.

The game was full of positives for the gaffer, whose side took in a 1-0 lead at half-time after Captain Tom Pope scored an early goal for the Valiants in what was a strong first-half.

The goal came when Tom Conlon capitalised on a poor back-pass and delivered a ball into the box that was cleared only as far as David Worrall who sent the ball back into the box where Pope was able to slot the ball past Tom Heaton’s near post.

Vale were unable to find that second goal they were looking for, and Burnley found an equaliser seven minutes into the second-half thanks a Chris Wood header.

With 10 minutes to go, Burnley scored two goals in quick succession to secure the victory.

Although the game did not end with a win for Vale, Askey was still feeling encouraged by the performance.

He said: “It was really positive, you go into those games and you think, Premiership club, majority their first team, they’ve all played Premiership Football.

“They didn’t change the team and you go into the game knowing you could get a spanking here.

“First-half I thought we did really well and what was pleasing, we created quite a few chances.

 “Second-half we tired, due to the weather, the pitch became a little sticky, it was difficult for us.

“We had to chase but the fitness levels will improve because they’ve had to do that.”

Burnley proved to be another good fitness test for the boys in preparation for the opening game of the season against Colchester.

The manager noted that there is still work to be done to get the squad to the level of fitness he wants for the season, something he is working on during the current trip to Scotland.

Askey admitted the game became harder in the second-half, as his teams fitness levels were called into action.

He said: “It was a good workout again, against top quality opposition.

“He [Dyche] said he thought we’d done well and that he thought we’ll do well in division 2.

“It’s getting everybody right for that first game.”