On Friday 5th January 2018 it was announced that Ben Whitfield had put pen to paper to extend his loan deal here at Vale Park until the end of the season.
Following a trip to Forest Green Rovers, we have now had a chance to catch up with the little magician as he expresses his delight at staying at the club: “I am delighted to stay here. It took a while to get it sorted but now it is over the line - I am delighted it is done.”
After producing many eye-opening performances in a Vale shirt, extending the Bournemouth players loan was top priority for Neil Aspin and something of a coup for the club, and the 21-year old says it was not a hard decision to make: “I am playing here, I enjoy the way the gaffer and the team are playing at the minute, and the fans have got behind me and are liking the way I play – All of that leads to an easy decision.”
Since being in Burslem from the beginning of the season and experiencing all the highs and lows of the 2017/18 season so far, Whitfield is keen to get Port Vale where they belong and believes that they have everything they need to do so: “We have a great squad, and we have a lot of players who have great ability we should not be where we are.
“If it wasn’t for the start of the season we would be right up there, but we have to take the rough with the smooth and Saturday was an example of that. We have to bounce back now.
“We have a great set of lads, we have been playing well and the fans get behind the lads every week and we have to repay them this Saturday against Yeovil.”
Despite beginning 2018 with two defeats on the road, the midfielder has a clear vision of what the Vale should be aiming to do this season: “Just keep pushing up the table. We have got to pick up points; we have to perform well and work hard behind the scenes as well as on Saturday.
“Make sure that what the gaffer sets us out to do on the Saturday, we have to take out on to the pitch and get results.”