Vale going into games positive - but not arrogant

Midfielder Chris Lines has stressed the importance of a good run over the next couple of weeks and Vale get ready for the busy Christmas period.

However, he believes Vale don’t need to change too much at all and feels confident they can do well, starting with a tough home game against Stevenage tomorrow afternoon.

“It’s an old cliché but you have got to do well over the Christmas period if you want to start again fresh into the New Year.

“It’s a time when you can suddenly find yourself going up or down the table and it is important for us to keep doing what we are doing, keep fresh and keep getting points on the board.

“If we can stay in and around that play-off area during this period then we have done well – we don’t want to end up losing a few games and starting to feel negative, we want to keep this positivity going.

“It is a massive thing at the moment, we are going into games positive – not in an arrogant way, but it’s good to go into games feeling like you are going to win because nine times out of ten you probably will win.”

First on the list is the matter of a home match against a resolute Stevenage side who will come to Vale Park feeling they can get something out of the game.

Lines says: “They are a totally different team to most in this league. I think they base their play on being strong and direct, or at least that is what I have seen of them before.

“I haven’t actually seen them this season, but they are down at the bottom and they are fighting for their lives.

“They will think if they can get a few wins over Christmas when there is a lot of games, they might end up finding themselves nearer to mid-table.

“We have got to start this little period positively on Saturday and just keep on doing what we are doing. We don’t need to change anything, we are doing fine as we are right now.”