Rob Page says Vale are up for it against Carlisle

Rob Page is expecting nothing less than a battle when Graham Kavanagh brings his Carlisle side here to Vale Park on Saturday (3.00pm kick off) on the back of a draw with promotion candidates Brentford last weekend.

The Vale coach knows from first-hand experience what to expect from a side managed by his former Cardiff City team mate and is expecting the Cumbians to be giving their all for a manager who will demand nothing less.

“Having played with Graham Kavanagh at Cardiff, I know what he is all about and his work ethic.

“He hates losing with a passion in anything he does and having trained with him I have seen that first hand.

“I always remember Graham when he was at Cardiff, he was the captain at the time and you could see that he has those leadership qualities.

“He has been an assistant so he has done his apprenticeship and he has worked at it and he is doing alright and he will do well.

“He is going to instil that passion into his players, so we expect a really tough game and we are not taking it lightly.

After going on a losing streak of late, Vale need to turn things around and get back to winning ways sooner rather than later and the players are under no illusions as to what it will take.

Page continued: “We are going to approach the game in exactly the same manner which we did against Wolves, Brentford, Leyton Orient and all of the top teams, there will be no difference in our approach.

“We know it is going to be a tough game and if we approach it in any different way, with any less enthusiasm and endeavour, we will set ourselves up for a fall and we won’t allow the players to do that.

“We are all looking forward to the game. It is one that we are confident if we are all at the races and we do what are good at and what we have done for the last couple of years then there should only be one result.