Pair on the way to recovery but not there yet

Micky Adams refused to put a time scale on the return of midfielder Doug Loft, but says he is expecting his skipper to be back in action soon.

Loft has missed Vale’s last three games but by all accounts is itching to get back involved in team affairs as soon as possible. Vale’s main problem it seems is trying to hold him back.

The gaffer said: “Doug is making progress, he is working with the physios and rehab is going well. We are hoping to have him back sooner rather than later.

“If I said he would be back in two weeks and then in two weeks time he wasn’t back, people would start asking questions.

“The thing with Doug is he wants to play and half the battle is putting the reins on him because whilst other people might take that extra day or that extra week, he wants to get back.

“We have to be very careful about that because if we do let him back too early we are going to lose him for another month and we don’t want to do that.”

Another player currently out injured is goalkeeper Chris Neal, but the manager is quite happy to let him take the necessary time to heal properly.

He said: “We have got to be mindful of the fact that it is a wrist injury and he is a goalkeeper. We have got to give that time to heal and we will do.

“We are happy with what Sam (Johnson) is doing at the moment, but hopefully Chris Neal will be back sooner rather than later.”