Vale team are well prepared for FA Cup tie
Vale boss Micky Adams will show tonight’s visitors the upmost respect and has prepared his side just like he does when they are about to face any side in League One.
The players and staff haven’t done anything different this week. They are aware of the dangers that could lie ahead, but will go into the game confident in their ability to do a job.
Micky said: “We have trained and prepared as we would normally do for a league game.
“We have had our meeting, we have shown them a little bit of video analysis of Salisbury, their shape and we have highlighted certain individuals and their strengths and their weaknesses and we are ready for the game.
“We would do that for any league team and we have done that for Salisbury as well. We haven’t necessarily shown the players a massive amount on them.
“But they do like to play out from the back, they tinker with their systems – they have played five at the back, last week they changed to a four-four-three, so the manager tinkers with his formation from time to time.
“Whatever formation they choose to employ here, we will be ready for them. The players understand what they have got to do.
“There is a definite feel good factor about being involved with Port Vale on the footballing side at the moment.
“We have spoken to the players about that – we want to continue feeling good about ourselves next week and the only way we can do that is by defeating Salisbury.
“If we do that, you can look back at the start of the season we have had, the league position we are in and the current run of form.
“If we get through to the third round, that feel good factor carries on for another week or so, so it is important for us.”
Micky has stressed the need to be patient tonight – if it doesn’t happen early on in the game, there are ninety minutes to make sure of doing what they set out to do and they will have to adopt a professional approach.
The gaffer said: “We certainly don’t want to be gung-ho, we want to be nice and patient. We’re not to know what system Salisbury are going to employ, we know they have got some decent players if you give them time and space and they can hurt you.
“The message I am giving to the players is the message I would give when we face league teams, so I think my players understand, particularly when we went to Walsall.
“If we are at it and we are up for the game and we have prepared physically for it, we are hard to play against and we could possibly get the right result.
“But I think this game is more of mental thing. We stressed that to the players yesterday – let’s look at this DVD, let’s pick out the things that we need to pick out from an individual point of view and a team point of view, let’s get that out onto the training ground.
“If we do it right in training and we take that into the game tonight, mentally we don’t switch off, we don’t go out and say we are going to beat Salisbury, because that would be a massive danger for us.
“Mentally, if we get it right with the ability we have got in the side it is a good draw for us, but that’s all it is, it’s a good draw for us if we go out and adopt a mental approach that is positive, and we do all of the right things at the right times, then hopefully we have got the better players on the night.”