Following the announcement that Scott Brown had signed a one-year contract extension on Thursday, John Askey is hopeful that the good news will help put the wheels in motion when it comes to securing deals with other players.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper has been a key figure during the 2018/19 campaign and he was rewarded with three accolades at the annual Player Awards, and Askey believes extending his stay at the club highlights real intent.

Despite the manager's own future not being set in stone, he is determined to plan ahead for the 2019/20 season anyway, and he is optimistic that more positive times could be around the corner.

He said: "I think it's good for the club and it sends out a strong message. If other players see that Scott has signed, then hopefully there will be one or two more.

"Things are still to be decided, but from the club's point of view, a signing like Scott who has had a fantastic season is a good start. Hopefully if we can get more people in of his calibre, it bodes well for the future.

"From what I hear, things are going quite well with the talks off the field and hopefully this will be the start of good times for the football club. 

"Fingers crossed my future will be sorted one way or another too, but the first thing is that the owners get in place and other things will then happen in due course. I'm hopeful, but you never know."

Although one eye is on the summer, Vale still have one more fixture to play and they will travel to already promoted Bury on Saturday looking to end on a high in front of a healthy contingent of travelling supporters.

The Valiants came out on top when the two sides met back in October 2018 courtesy of a Tom Pope strike, and the manager wants his players to put on a performance that they can be proud of.

He said: "I'm just looking for commitment really and a will to win, similar to what we showed against MK Dons really. Obviously Bury are now promoted so they'll be on a high after celebrating for the last three or four days.

"We can take advantage of that even though they are the best footballing team in the league. On their day they're a difficult opponent to play against.

"I've said for a while that I wanted to finish on 50 points, so if we get three points we'll achieve what we set out to do."