Askey – We need to take our chances
OLDHAM ATHLETIC V PORT VALE / Boundary Park / Today, 3pm
ADDING goals to the side has to be John Askey’s main concern ahead of a busy week. The manager has always said we will have a better idea about his Port Vale team and their prospects after 10 games – a point that will be reached after this weekend’s game at Oldham, Tuesday’s match at home to Cheltenham and then next Saturday’s trip to Southend.
The Vale, who are 13th, have only scored six times in their seven league games, although Askey feels that will change if they can build on the performances against two of the best sides in the division over the last week.
Vale matched title favourites Salford at Vale Park before edging the game 1-0 thanks to Cristian Montano’s late winner last Saturday, then played some fine football in the first half at leaders Cambridge, levelled through Theo Robinson’s 18th-minute penalty, but finally succumbed to a 3-1 defeat.
But while Askey believes there are goals in the side, he does say there is room for improvement.
He said: “We need to take our chances a little bit better but we still need to create more. In and around the box, that final pass needs to be better.
“I thought against Salford we created one or two chances, and again the other night. So I think we are gradually improving.
“Hopefully that’s the case, we just need results now.
“We just need one or two more contributing, but if they keep working hard it will come because we know they are more than capable.”
While goals have been at a premium, Vale have been fine at the other end. They kicked off at Cambridge with the best defensive record in the division having conceded just twice.
So, any changes the manager does make for the Oldham game will be designed to improve his team’s attacking threat.
Askey does have options with forwards David Amoo and Harry Mckirdy now expected to be available after making progress in training through injury.
Amoo, Mckirdy, Zak Mills and Manny Oyeleke all missed the Cambridge game because they are coming back from injury but the manager gave an update on their progress in his Friday press conference.
He said: “They are all back in training. Manny is little bit behind the others but David, Zak and Harry are in contention now for a place, if not starting then they will be considered for the bench.”
Vale take on a 19th-placed Oldham side who will be guided by assistant manager Alan Maybury because manager Harry Kewell has tested positive for Covid-19 and so is isolating for three games, the first of which was the 1-1 draw at home to Carlisle on Tuesday.
Maybury rates Vale as a goal threat, despite their record. He told his club’s website: “They are what a lot of teams in this league are – they work hard, they are well structured, they carry a goal threat and they are a big, physical side as well.
“They had a good result beating Salford then, like a lot of teams in this league, can’t then get the second result so they got beaten during the week.
“We know it will be a difficult challenge but we recognise what they are good at and maybe the areas where we can hurt them as well.”
DON’T forget the new supporters’ scheme to enable fans to buy their own Valiant Cutout, to be positioned on a seat in the Railway Paddock.
The scheme is organised by the Super Vale Abroad supporters’ group, working in conjunction with the Port Vale Foundation Trust.
Cutouts cost £25 each and proceeds will be used by the Foundation for community projects agreed with Super Vale Abroad.
These will include Kit out a Kid which will provide a Vale shirt and Junior Valiant membership to selected children. SVA have also committed to make a donation towards the Supporters’ Club Lorne Street Concourse Fund.
Full details of how to have your picture on a Valiant Cutout are available on the Super Vale Abroad Facebook site.
DEREK IS BACK
FANZINE Derek I’m Gutted!!! Is back.
Despite the absence of supporters, editor Andy Mccormack has produced issue number 102. It’s smaller than usual but for £1 readers will also get a free copy of the last issue which was printed in March but couldn’t be sold at games because the season was cut short.
The issue is on sale at High Lane News and the Bulls Head in Burslem or by writing to Andy at 29 Wade Street Burslem ST6 1HR with a stamp or additional £1 to cover postage.
For further information contact Andy on 07910 224642.
RUSSELL TOVEY doesn’t gloss over how challenging his latest TV role was. In fact, the Essex-born actor declares The Sister “is the hardest job I’ve ever done”.
He plays Nathan, who is completely riddled with anxiety and fear and unable to escape his past, in the fourpart ITV series.
“It’s about the unravelling of a good person who made a mistake, or got involved in a situation he shouldn’t have been involved in,” Russell, 38, elaborates.
“And to commit to that as an actor, when every single scene is a panic attack or anxiety or screaming or crying, and you’re in every single scene, it’s really tough.
“I feel like, as actors, instinctively you trick your body into feeling these emotions. You’re tricking your body into fight or flight and you’re doing it over and over and over again.”
The Sister was written by Luther creator Neil Cross, inspired by his novel Burial.
It centres on Nathan who’s spent years trying to atone for a terrible secret from his past, involving the death of a young woman, Elise, at a party…only he and Bob, an eccentric old acquaintance, know what really happened... and they’ve resolved to keep it that way.
Now married to Elise’s sister, Nathan’s world is threatened when Bob – played by Doctor Foster star Bertie Carvel – suddenly appears at his door with terrifying news.
“Nathan’s got everything compartmentalised by this point,” notes Russell. “He’s able to live. He wants to live and he’s full of life and he loves his wife and all he wants is to start a family and be normal. It’s all he ever wanted.
“He doesn’t have big dreams. He just wants to be happy. And Bob turns up and he unravels.”
Russell – who’s also starred in dramas such as BBC’S Being Human and Years And Years, and ITV’S Flesh And Blood – reflects on how different The Sister was from previous projects.
“I am someone that, on set, I like to have a laugh, I like a bit of banter, talk to the crew. This one, I was just in a little coffin, in my head, trying to hold it all in. Because it’s a genre piece, it’s beautifully shot.
“It’s visually stunning. But to set that up is a long time... and then you’re straight in doing these scenes where you’re just falling apart.”
So, what did he do to help himself through the intense shoot?
“You’ve just got to look after yourself. I had loads of vitamins, like fads. I was doing Berocca with CBD shots every morning.”
He adds: “You’ve just to give it your all. Because if you walk away from that being like, ‘I could have done that better’ then that’s something that you’ll never be able to change.”
Russell has been open in interviews in the past about how he’s a “worrier”, and how he has various anxieties about himself and being a performer.
Asked if there was anything from his past that he could draw on for Nathan and his struggles, he says: “You make mistakes in your past. I mean, I’ve not been involved in the death of a young lady. But as humans, we’re all flawed. As humans, we’ve all said something that’s upset someone.
“When you’re at a party, you say something and you go home and you’re like, ‘Oh God, I think I really upset that person, because I said that.’ And then you live with it for a while and you feel really guilty. And then
you see them again and you apologise and they’re like, ‘I don’t remember.’ And you’re like, OK, it’s all in your head.
“You fixate on things. So I guess I’m drawing on a feeling – but a lot of it’s on the page.”
The star describes Nathan as “a really decent, kind, normal man. He’s the everyman.”
When it comes to how viewers will react to him, he says: “I think people are really gonna... their hearts are gonna break for him. That’s what I want.
“I want their hearts to break for him and I want them to be conflicted. That they’re gonna watch him and be like, ‘I can’t believe what I’m witnessing that you’ve done. I really care about you.’
“Every time I do a job, I want my mum to like the character. And I want my mum to want to give them a cuddle. And I think with this character she’s gonna be like, ‘I really don’t like what’s happened, but I’m gonna give you a cuddle anyway.’
I think it’s got that sort of energy.”
On the topic of his family, he says his parents read the book The Sister is based on.
“My parents read everything,” continues Russell. “When I did The Good Liar [2019 film with Helen Mirren and Ian Mckellen] they read The Good Liar.
“I normally like to have had the script and then I go by the script. And then I have to build my own emotional back story.
“Will I read the book after this? Maybe. I feel like, with this character, when I finished this job, I had to push Nathan away for a while, because it really got under my skin.”
You make mistakes in your past. I mean, I’ve not been involved in the death of a young lady. But as humans, we’re all flawed... Russell Tovey