‘WEMBLEY RETURN IS PERFECT MOTIVATION’
Assistant manager Crosby insists it’s not hard to get Valiants up for Trophy tie
PORT Vale assistant manager Andy Crosby says the chance to take a step closer to Wembley is ample motivation for his players as they take on Barnsley at Vale Park in the Papa Johns Trophy this evening (7.30pm).
Vale guaranteed a home tie in this round of 32 fixture by topping their qualifying group, although they might have wanted an easier draw than a Barnsley side who are sixth in League One, four places above the Valiants.
However, Vale qualified from their group in some style, beating Stockport 1-0 at home, Shrewsbury 4-0 away and Wolves under-21s 2-0 back at Vale Park.
Crosby said: “It is our biggest priority at the moment because it is our next game. When you get through the group stages as successfully as we did, with three good victories against three different calibre of teams, then that was the objective done.
“We knew it would guarantee a home game. I think out of all the teams that were left in the competition, this was probably the hardest game we could have got in the draw.
“But it is a game we look forward to. We thought Barnsley were very good when we played them in the league game a couple of months ago, so we are expecting a really tough game. But the carrot at the end of the competition is to go and play at Wembley so that is all the motivation the group needs.”
Vale made 11 changes from their league side for each of their last two group games but may be tempted to field players from Saturday’s 1-0 win at home to Charlton because they have no game this weekend.
Crosby is giving nothing away about team selection but points out that group results show players have risen to the occasion when called up for Trophy games.
He added: “We have had three really good results, varying quality of performance, with different groups of players who have either come into the team, stayed in the team from the previous game or been coming back from injury.
“So, there are a variety of things that we can do and we will leave it as open as we possibly can do.”
He said his only disappointment from Saturday’s win over Charlton was that Vale couldn’t get more players involved as only Sammy Robinson, Mipo Odubeko and Dennis Politic were used off the bench.
He said: “When we got to the last change, we thought the game was going how we hoped it would have done. They weren’t really hurting us with the ball so there was no point making another change for change’s sake. So, as soon as Dennis came on, that team was then going to finish.
“But we have made changes for league games and cup games and, whichever 11 go and represent the club in this game will do a really good job.”
He says players have been ready to take their opportunity throughout this competition, and in the league, and haven’t been lacking sharpness.
He said: “In the olden days, people would say you only get match fitness from games.
“I still get that a little bit but I think if you apply yourself from Monday to Friday then you do make Saturday a little bit easier.
“So far, when players have come in, fitness has not been an issue for them.”*