Goalkeeper Sam Hornby has said "you've always got to be ready", after coming on early on against Crewe on Monday due to Ryan Boot suffering a foot injury.
Hornby has featured just seven times in between the sticks for Vale this season, and spent a period on loan at Chester midway through the season which he says he enjoyed thoroughly and helped him.
The goalkeeper now has his eyes firmly fixed on securing the number one spot in goal for the Vale, and is hoping to impress the gaffer this weekend against Crawley, after an excellent performance on Monday.
"It was good (Crewe), obviously unfortunately we didn't hang on but on a personal level it was a good experience to experience at their place. It was a brilliant atmosphere, the fans travelled in their numbers.
"You've always got to be ready, you never know it's that one position where sometimes you've just got to be ready and you get chucked in like it happened but like I said I thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Hopefully I can look to Saturday now and build on what I did on Monday. You've got to have self belief, I played in the National League which is very physical, and then came back into League 2 which is another physical league. I've got experience under my belt."
Hornby has another year left on his contract after signing for the Valiants last summer and is keen to establish himself as the number one goalkeeper for Neil Aspin.
After making 15 appearances during his loan spell at Chester and picking up plenty of experience, there is nothing more Hornby wants than to play football games for the Vale.
"I want to stay here, play and establish myself. I came here to play games and nothing's changed since when I first signed in the summer.
"I've got another year left on my contract so I just need to establish myself in these next few games and hopefully kick on for next year. I've got to try and look forward but not look too far forward and take each week as it comes."
"The aim is establish ourselves in this league, so we've got make sure we focus on Crawley and take each game as it comes. Hopefully we can get to that safety."