PUGH: TROPHY WIN PROVIDED THE RIGHT KIND OF HEADACHE
THE Port Vale management have been given food for thought by Tuesday’s win at Wigan Athletic as they prepare for tomorrow’s home game with Carlisle United.
John Askey made eight changes for the EFL Trophy game at the DW Stadium, and saw his team create plenty of chances in a 3-1 win with two goals from Theo Robinson and one from Cristian Montano.
Chances had been scarce in their two previous League Two games, the goalless draw at home to Harrogate and last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Morecambe.
So, coach Danny Pugh says they were pleased to see that wasn’t a problem in a game in which Vale also hit the woodwork and kept keeper Owen Evans busy.
He said: “That was a big thing we had looked at ourselves, especially after the weekend. We didn’t create enough chances then, although we had a lot of possession. So, it is a positive thing for us to get three goals and we could have had more.
“I think everyone who came into the team played exceptionally well. It was a good team performance with a lot of good individual performances out there at the same time.”
Vale experimented with 4-4-2 as Tom Pope partnered Theo Robinson up front, but they had gone 11 league games unbeaten before the Morecambe defeat by largely playing 4-3-3.
Pope and Robinson both needed game time on Tuesday and Pugh explained 4-4-2 best suited the players selected.
He said: “We felt, with the players we had available to us, and the team we were going to put up, it would suit us better. It
COOL AS YOU LIKE: Cristian Montano scores against Wigan.
turned out that it worked well for us.
“It’s good to have two or three formations in your locker and the lads who have come in have done exceptionally well.”
The win means Vale just need a point from their final group game, at home to Liverpool under-21s, to qualify for the knockout stages.
Vale lead their group on five points, followed by Tranmere on four, Wigan on three and Liverpool on zero.
In fact, the only way Vale could fail to finish in the top two to qualify is if they lose to
Liverpool’s youngsters while Wigan and Tranmere draw, but Wigan then gain an extra point from the penalty shoot-out.
In that scenario Vale, Wigan and Tranmere would all be tied on five points and qualification would come down to goal difference.
Vale’s game against Liverpool, and Tranmere’s home match with Wigan, are both scheduled for November 10.
Vale earned £8,000 prize money from beating Wigan. They also netted £4,000 from the goalless draw at home to Tranmere in their opening
group game, although they gained an extra point by winning the penalty shoot-out.
Carlisle make the journey south sitting in mid-table in the early standings - but they have an in-form midfielder to keep an eye on.
Jon Mellish has grabbed three goals in the last two matches, netting the winner against Barrow and then two in the 5-3 EFL Trophy defeat at Sunderland.
Carlisle assistant manager Gavin Skelton says it’s a bonus that Mellish is now finding the scoresheet.
“Towards the end of last season Jon was getting in some really good positions without getting the finishing touch to get a goal,” Skelton told the News & Star. “Now that he’s scored a couple he’ll be desperate to get in those positions even more.
“For his second goal [at Sunderland] I don’t even think he’ll have thought about it, he just had the confidence to go and score.”
Mellish, aged 23, has also signed a new contract with the Cumbrians - and has bounced back well from an error in the game against Scunthorpe.
“It’s one of those situations where he probably hasn’t been playing as badly as some people have said he has been, and people also get carried away the other way when he scores, or whatever,” the coach added.
“From our side, we know what we get because every day he’s at the top of the running stats, and I bet he’s ran furthest [on Tuesday night] even though he wasn’t on as long as everyone else.
“He’s honest, and you can accept mistakes when they come through honesty and effort. I think his performances have generally been quite good and thankfully he’s adding goals to that.
“He’s on a little run and hopefully he can continue that.”