DREAM TEAM

MARK MARSHALL – The Port Vale winger chooses his favourite XI, made up from players he has played with in his football career.

GOALKEEPERI

Joe Murphy – Huddersfield Town I only played with him briefly at Coventry, but even that was long enough to see how good he was. For someone so short, he has the reflexes of a cat.

RIGHT BACKI

Cyrus Christie – Derby County Cyrus is quite athletic and gets up and down the pitch all the time. He’s a good crosser of the ball. He’s doing very well in the Championship and you can see he has all the attributes to go as high as possible. He’s definitely one to watch.

CENTRE BACKI

Sean Morrison – Cardiff City He played in the Premier League and chipped in with a few goals. He’s very good in the air. When I played with him at Swindon it was good to see someone so young have that presence on the pitch.

CENTRE BACKI

Remie Streete – Glasgow Rangers (On loan from Newcastle United) He has got great potential. He was on loan at Port Vale from Newcastle and played for us a couple of times, but Newcastle called him back early because they had a few injuries. He is quick, athletic and a good reader of the game. He’s good in the air as well.

LEFT BACKI

Ryan Haynes – Coventry City He has got a very sweet left foot and I think if he keeps his head down, like he is doing, then he could go very far in the game. He’s quite athletic as well.

RIGHTI MIDFIELDI

Byron Moore – Port Vale Even though he is 26, I think he still has the potential to play at a very high level. He has bags of ability, you see it every day in training, and he’s got a lot of games under his belt. He is very good technically and has a good footballing brain.

CENTRALI MIDFIELDI

Michael O’Connor – Port Vale I would put him on the right side of my midfield three. He is a very technical player and has been excellent for us this season.

CENTRALI MIDFIELDI

Jonathan Douglas – Brentford He was like a crab. You would never think he would be moving as fluidly as he could be, because if you are looking with the naked eye, he looks like he’s ambling around. But for the job that he does and the composure he has on the ball, I quite admire that. He’s having an excellent season with Brentford.

CENTRALI MIDFIELDI

John Fleck – Coventry City John is a brilliant player. He has great technical ability and is very comfortable on the ball. He would be an asset to any side. He’s one to keep an eye out for.

LEFT MIDFIELDI

Anthony McNamee – Unattached He’s such a good crosser of the ball. I took a lot of inspiration from him when we played together at Swindon. He was never afraid to roll his sleeves up and work really hard, and he’s a good lad, too.

STRIKERI

Charlie Austin – Queens Park Rangers He had a slow start, then all of a sudden he started scoring at Swindon, and he’s never stopped since! Once he gets a half a yard in the box he’ll put it away. For someone coming out of Non-League, you could tell then he was going to go far because he has natural goal-scoring ability. Once it’s gone past five or six games and someone keeps scoring, it’s no fluke. And he’s done it in the top flight.