The new League Two season is now only a matter of weeks away from kicking off and Vale's pre-season preparations are going well so far.
Comfortable victories over Kidsgrove Athletic and Newcastle Town alongside a 1-1 draw with Buxton means it's an undefeated start for Michael Brown's men, but Lawrie Wilson knows that you can't read too much into results at this stage.
He said: "Pre-season is a very strange time because you've got new players coming in, people bonding and you're playing teams from various levels.
"There are plenty of different factors, but the manager is going to instil a winning mentality in this team."
As the Valiants' pre-season opponents grow in calibre over the next few weeks, Wilson highlights the need to have these different tests against teams with varying styles in order to prepare correctly for the new campaign.
He said: "The games are going to get harder and that's when you really start to challenge yourselves before it all gets under way in August.
"It's always good to face better opposition and experience different situations. I find you'll probably get different pictures, they will press you but in different ways to what we've come up against so far.
"Ball retention also tends to be higher and Derby are a side that like to keep possession, so maybe we will end up trying to get into shape and make it difficult for them to break us down.
"We will be learning how to deal with different scenarios and that is crucial for us as a team."
Experience is something that Wilson certainly has on his side having played a lot of football across the Football League. Speaking about what to expect in League Two, he said:
"It's certainly a lot more physical in the sense that there isn't as much football played over the course of 90 minutes.
"However, that's part and parcel of the game and whatever is put in front of you, you need to then implement your style of play as best as you can.
"If it comes down to suddenly going man for man then you have to roll your sleeves up, win headers and do what it takes to win games."