Manager John Askey was impressed by his team’s performance but says he and his squad have been left “disappointed” that they were unable to pick up their first win of the 2019/20 season against Salford City.
The Valiants were denied their first three points of the season thanks to an injury time Salford City equaliser following what Askey thought was another commanding performance from his team.
Speaking after the game, a disappointed John Askey pointed out that there were plenty of positives to be taken away from the match but his side need to prevent conceding late goals so they can begin to pick up the points that they deserve.
Chance creation, which has been a continued area of improvement for the gaffer, was again picked out as a positive from the game, with the Vale having six more shots on target than the hosts across the 90 minutes, but Askey is hoping the conversion rate will begin to rise.
He said: “We’re very disappointed to not have got the three points given the position we were in and I thought we played really well, creating chances again and we could have come away with three or four [goals].
“We’re doing well, I thought we did against Northampton, Colchester was a little bit more even but it’s disappointing we’ve not got six points from those 2 games.
“It’s just disappointing that we haven’t been able to see them [Salford] off, because again I think we looked the better team on the day.”
The gaffer was again left impressed by how his players performed, picking out David Worrall for the character of his performance against Salford, as he again stood out despite playing the majority of the game with a broken nose sustained early on.
Richie Bennett was also praised by the boss after the game for his good movement and energy after he was brought on, and the forward repaid Askey’s support by scoring Vale’s first goal from open play this season.
When looking ahead to Tuesday night’s game against Forest Green Rovers, John Askey was hopeful that his squad will sustain their current form and carry their intensity forward as if they do then he believes that wins will start to come Vale’s way.
He said: “The message to the players is keep doing what you’re doing, keep believing and eventually we’ll get the three points that we deserve.
“You can’t ask any more of them [the players], I’m sure the supporters who came today realise that every single player is working their socks off for them and we just hope it’ll turn for us.
“[We’re looking to] get a win, just keep doing what we’re doing and just hope now that chances that we get, we start to put them away.”