Michael Brown will be hoping his side can bounce back from the 2-0 defeat at Oxford United and Sam Foley has lauded the influence of the manager.

“He has had a big impact. Having him around the place is brilliant with the amount of experience he has got.

“If you look at his experience from the playing side, he has played under top managers at some top clubs so that will pay off for him as a manager. 

“Hopefully it will work for us until the end of the season.”

Foley insists the belief amongst the squad is high as they approach the final league fixtures.

He said: “The mood is very good, it is obviously a difficult situation that we find ourselves in, but all season the mood has been positive and everything we have been asked to do we have tried to do. 

“There is nothing bad around the environment, everyone is trying to work as hard as they can so we are feeling good going into Saturday.”

With Bolton, Walsall and Fleetwood all left to play, the midfielder is looking forward to the run-in and he says there is a “big belief” that Vale can get the results needed.

“A couple of weeks ago we said we needed a couple of wins and the situation hasn’t changed, it is all in our hands.

“The players are all trying their hardest, every single one of them and we are really pulling together.

“All we can do now is just keep going, getting our heads down and continue plugging away.”