john askey on mansfield win

Port Vale manager John Askey has described yesterdays win as "massive" as is already challenging his Vale side to go out and get more wins for the club.

A huge cheer echoed around Vale Park yesterday afternoon accompanied by a relieved, passionate fist pump from Askey when referee Darren Bond blew for full time.

The result meant it was Port Vale's first home win at Vale Park since October and Askey's first three points as manager of the club.

The win came thanks to striker Ricky Miller scoring a second half brace on a cold afternoon at Vale Park. Miller came in for the injured Tom Pope and certainly delivered for the gaffer, and it's safe to say he was over the moon with the result.

"It's massive. The main thing for me is, it's for Port Vale. This result was for nobody else other than Port Vale Football Club.

"Port Vale Football Club is a big club for this league and the last thing we want to do is to see it in the state it's in at the moment with regards to the league table. 

"Just to get that win... because you start to wonder whether you're doing the right things and I think today shows at the moment we're doing the right things.

"Hopefully everybody associated with the football club see a few more wins before the end of the season. It's important we do it at home, the fans were terrific but they had something to shout about. When they have something to shout about they really get behind us."

The win means Port Vale have picked up four points in their past two games at a crucial time of the season after suffering four losses in a row to teams in and around them.

Three points yesterday afternoon put the Valiants seven points clear of Macclesfield who sit in the relegation zone and a place above Tuesday's visitors, Yeovil Town.

It's another vital game at Vale Park that John Askey will be preparing his players to go out and win, as it would give them another big boost to steer them away from the danger zone. Askey said his team have to keep their feet on the ground and focus on Tuesady.

"Again it's a massive game. Yeovil are in and around us and we've just gone above them, so we'll prepare properly.

"We're in tomorrow (Sunday) to assess everybody because the players have put a lot of hard work into the game. I know with the fitness that we've got now we're more than capable of going again on Tuesday and they believe that they can as well.

"We're not getting carried away until we get safe and then hopefully everybody can sleep a little bit easier."