ASKEY WANTS VALE TO SHOW OFF TRUE COLOURS AT HOME

JOHN Askey wants to see the real Port Vale at home to Salford City tomorrow as his side look to get back to form.

Vale have suffered back-to-back League Two losses, at tabletopping Morecambe and at home to Carlisle, to end a run of 11 league matches without defeat. Askey took on a team in a third successive relegation battle when he was appointed in February 2019, but turned them into play-off contenders last season.

Now he wants them to get back to those standards after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Carlisle.

He said: “The response has been good from the players.

“We need to get back to what we are about and that is a hardworking team that closes the opposition down.

“And when we play, try to move the ball quickly and create chances. “For whatever reason it has been a bit ‘ploddy.’ But there have been a lot of games, not only ourselves, that have been like that.” Askey said at the start of October, when his team had just taken seven points from nine, that he felt games weren’t flowing as much as usual and the fact matches were behind closed doors might be a factor.

He added this week: “We are probably expecting a little bit too much.

“Even when we won games we weren’t happy, probably it was the wrong thing to say.

“I think the present situation has had a bit to do with that but if we had taken our chances on Saturday then it is a different game. “But we need to improve and hopefully as the season goes on we keep improving.”

Nathan Smith is expected to return to the defence having missed the last three games because he was isolating after a family member tested positive for Covid-19. Tom Conlon and Luke Joyce are also pushing for recalls in midfield after starting on the bench against Carlisle.