Boss says players are right on track
Micky Adams spoke about how his players tired the other night during the second half against Derby County, but was quick to point out that his players are right on track regarding their fitness levels ahead of the new season.Vale played exceptionally well against Championship opposition in the first half on Tuesday night, but it was evident enough for everybody to see that some of the lads were struggling a little in the second forty five minutes.
The Vale boss explained: “Every manager has their own ideas and beliefs for preparing their teams for the start of the season – the simple facts are you have got to be fit.
“I have said to the players many times before that the things we do with them are things that I have picked up and have been used on me, so I don’t ask them to so anything that I haven’t done myself.
“We tired dramatically in the game against Derby and I expected that. A lot of the fans perhaps wouldn’t understand that, but we are training twice a day and we are training on the morning of games as well.
“On the day before games we are doing some sort of physical activity that you wouldn’t normally do if it was a league game, but we are three weeks into that now.
“What we will see now is that the training will be tapered. We will ease it down and we will sharpen them up and we will get ready for August 3rd, because at the end of the day that’s what we are all aiming towards.
“At the moment my players are about where they should be – tired. I think they are feeling the effects of a lot of games in a short space of time.
“We have had five games already, which is more than a lot of clubs have had and we have had a trip as well, but they are where they should be.
“I don’t tell them lies, I told them they are going to tired going into games but the next two weeks will be about sharpening them up and getting them ready.”
Adam Yates, Liam Chilvers and Joe Davis have all been ruled out of tonight’s game against Kidderminster Harriers after picking up minor injuries, but there will be two new faces on show at Aggborough.
Adams continued: “We will have a couple of central defenders on show tonight. We have got two lads on trial and we will have a look at them.
“We will take everybody with us and we will pick a side. The lads that don’t get a game will have a training session, like we did against Derby.”