Antony Kay is enjoying his football sitting just in front of Vale’s defence at the moment and he is looking ahead to Barnet with great optimism.

The Valiants have picked up a total of ten points from their last five Sky Bet League Two matches, something which Kay believes is a stepping stone for the side to build on.

“Our form has been good and the cup games gave us a bit of a distraction, but it was great to win them too,” said Kay.

“Players have been rested and others have come in and they’ve done well so that shows the strength we have in depth too.

“In the league we have been picking up points, bar the game against Swindon, so we’ve got to carry that on now going into the weekend.”

One man who has been a catalyst for Vale’s recent success is Tom Pope, a man who Kay knows very well from their time playing together at Bury.

The striker won Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month for October, something which Kay believes was fully deserved.

“I’m made up for him because he’s come back to the club and done well,” he said.

“Obviously he’s a big figure around Port Vale, a bit of a legend so he tells me! I’m glad for him, it was only a matter of time before he started scoring goals and he’s doing that now.”

With Vale now having the luxury of back-to-back home fixtures versus Barnet and Mansfield respectively, Kay is now looking to help his side earn some more points in Sky Bet League Two.

“These two games are massive,” he said.

“You look at Barnet and where they are In the table, they’re in a similar position to us. We need to try and win every single home game.

“Mansfield are doing well and they were favourites to win the league in pre-season. I watched them a few weeks ago and they’ve got some talented players.

“You’ve just got to take every game as it comes, you can’t be looking too far ahead, especially where we are at the moment.”