David Worrall admits that he was delighted to score both of Vale’s goals during Saturday’s draw at home to Colchester United, with the second coming late on to salvage a point.
The midfielder found the net in either half to cancel out strikes from Courtney Senior and Drey Wright, and he revealed that a new pair of boots may have been the secret.
He joked: “I just fancied a new pair of boots and all the lads said I’d score today. I don’t know whether to buy another new pair or just keep wearing them now!
“I’m delighted because I had a lot of family and friends here today so it was good for them to see that.
“It was just great to get on the scoresheet, but I know I need to score more as an attacker - hopefully this can be the start for me.
“With the second goal, I just saw Luke (Hannant) shooting and I thought I’d gamble.
“I ran past Popey’s man and I saw that I was still onside so I just threw myself at it. Luckily, I got a touch on it, and off I went.”
Despite gaining all of the plaudits for his brace, Worrall was quick to praise the character and determination of his teammates.
He also lauded the influence of Anton Forrester after he was introduced as a half-time substitute.
“Anton is strong, you could see he was throwing people around and he makes their defence drop deeper,” said Worrall.
“That’s the Anton Forrester we know and the one we need for the rest of the season because he could play a massive part in us staying in this league.
“We’ve had a tough week and we’ve covered a lot of ground with our running, but it’s shown out on the pitch today.
“I felt as if we always had the advantage throughout the game and we were on the front foot, but two sloppy goals were given away and we’ve done well to fight back.
“We probably didn’t create too many clear-cut chances, but we were the only team who looking likely to have an opportunity.
“With the players we’ve got, we knew we were going to get a chance at some point and we had to make it count.
“The subs came on, kept the tempo going, and it’s just what we needed ready for a battle again next weekend.”
Morecambe are up next for Neil Aspin’s men at Vale Park, and Worrall believes the draw will provide the squad with something to build on in Sky Bet League Two.
He said: “Getting the draw was massive for us today and we’ve got to go into that game with the mentality that anything other than a win isn’t acceptable.
“That’s what we need - if we end up with four points from the last two games, it might lift us with the other results.”