With just seven fixtures left to play this season, Scott Brown is determined to ensure that Vale finish as strongly as possible to ensure they finish as high up the Sky Bet League Two table as they can.
John Askey's men currently lie in 21st position following last weekend's defeat to Forest Green Rovers, but the four-game unbeaten run that preceded that means the Valiants are seven points above the bottom two.
That breathing space is a welcome boost to Brown and the rest of the Vale squad, but he insists that everyone is hungry to pull further away from the chasing pack and ensure survival in the Football League ahead of next season.
He said: "We've just got to concentrate on ourselves and get to 50 points as quickly as possible. Macclesfield's game in hand is against Exeter and Notts County are still right in there, but that total is our initial target.
"We don't want to stay up by default with 45 or 46 points, we want to take care of ourselves and make sure that it's in our own hands instead of relying on other teams.
"We are where we are for a reason as are all the teams around us, so the table doesn't like after this amount of games. We've all got a job to do and the task is to keep this club in the league now - that's what we need to do."
Since signing from Wycombe Wanderers in the summer of 2018, the goalkeeper has been a key figure of the Vale team and he has impressed despite the disappointing season.
The 33-year-old has provided a wealth of experience and he has pulled off several superb saves in between the posts, keeping 14 clean sheets in the league which is one of the best records in the division.
Despite having the incentive to shut the opposition out on a personal level, Brown is focused on helping his teammates clock up as many positive results as they can before the end of the campaign, regardless of the scoreline.
He said: "I think I only kept 14 clean sheets in our promotion-winning season last year at Wycombe, so to get to that many in the league this time around with seven games still to play is good going.
"Scott Davies has got 16 at Tranmere so I wanted to try and catch him as that would be a great personal achievement, but I'm happy with things so far and there are still plenty of matches to play - hopefully I can get a few more yet.
"I'd rather us win 2-1 or whatever as long as we get the job done, but to see us high up in the clean sheet table is a proud moment for everyone as the whole team defend really well from the front.
"They deal with set plays well and other things, so it's not just myself that's responsible, it's everyone. We've just got to keep working hard and we can take confidence from that into Saturday at Northampton."