Clarke urges Valiants to keep raising standards

PORT Vale may be on the verge of winning seven in a row for the first time since 1893, but Darrell Clarke insists they need to be better.

Vale’s season has been transformed over the last month but Clarke was unimpressed with the performance as they beat Morecambe 1-0 in the snow last weekend – and he doesn’t think a repeat will be enough to keep the run going at Carlisle today.

“It’s about winning, first and foremost, any way we can,” he said.

“The Harrogate game was to win that however you can, it was blowing a gale and the pitch was awful. Won 2-0, great.

“The Morecambe game was a strange affair with the stoppages and what not. I was disappointed with our performance with the ball, not with effort and commitment.

“You’re always looking as a manager, whether you’re on a winning run or losing run, on your next performance and we’ll be looking to have a better performance than the last game. We’ll need that if we’re going to come out of a win.

“We’ll certainly have to raise our standards. The players are aware of that. We’ve built our week up on that. We can’t expect to win football games if you’re going to perform how we did against Morecambe on a regular basis.”

Vale haven’t won seven in a row since taking maximum points in their free-scoring opening month of the 1893/94 season.

It has been used as motivation this week.

“We want to make good stats,” said Clarke. “It was 1996 that someone mentioned to me was the last time we had won six on the spin so you want to go for the next one.

“I have mentioned it to the group. It would be a hell of an achievement but I think we need to bring our A game to beat Carlisle and if we do that we’ve got every chance of winning the game.”

He added: “I have personal pride as well as winning for the football club.

“I like my winning ratio to be as high as possible, that’s why I get out of bed, to try to win.

“I want to win for myself and for the club, I want the players to win for themselves and for their families, the club and the supporters.

“It’s all about that W at the end of the day. The more you build the football club to allow you to do that, everyone is happier.”