Defender glad of the break but is raring to go if selected against Rochdale
Vale skipper Carl Dickinson says being out of the side recently has probably done him a favour after his form has suffered recently.
He is more or less certain to return to the starting line-up against Rochdale on Saturday and says he feels he has benefited from his time on the side-lines.
He said: “I am ready to go and I can’t wait to get out there. I have had a little dip in form, I got subbed and obviously wasn’t playing well, but I have trained hard the last few weeks and I am ready to go again.
“I haven’t been good enough for the standards I set myself day in and day out, but this last few weeks has actually helped me in a way.
“It has been nice to take a step back and see what I need to improve on and where I need to work a bit more. I have done some extra work these last few weeks and I am ready and raring to go.
“If you ask anyone, all you want to do is learn and try to improve yourself, and I am no different, I want to improve and I want to be the best I can be. I want to show that out there that I am a good player, because I know I am.”
Keith Hill’s side come to Vale Park in good form and Dickinson knows what to expect as a somewhat patched up Vale defence prepare to face a decent Rochdale side.
Vale faced ‘The Dale’ here at Vale Park in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy last October, and to say the visitors were impressive is an understatement.
Vale were dumped out of the competition by a rampant Rochdale side who went away with a 1-0 win, yet it could be argued the scoreline flattered Vale a little.
Dickinson said: “We experienced them last season and they absolutely ‘popped’ us here, so we know what their team is all about.
“They have got some really good technical players in the team and they like to keep the ball, but when they haven’t got the ball they like to press people down.
“They are a hard-working team and it is no surprise to me that they have started as well as they have, from what I saw last season.
“But we want to make this a hard place to come and over the last month or so everybody has seen the standard of football we have set ourselves and how hard we make it for team when they do come here.”