Despite bowing out of the FA Cup last night, defender Antony Kay believes that he and his Port Vale teammates gave a good account of themselves.

Vale were reduced to nine men with 30 minutes of normal time left to play, following red cards for Cristian Montano and James Gibbons.

However, Kay feels that Vale were always in the game: “We always showed some threat and I think that that is what spurred us on. We had chances at the end of the day, and we took them – we just didn’t have any luck in the end.” 

Speaking on the performance of his Vale teammates, he is proud of the effort that the whole team put in: “It’s unbelievable”, he said.

“Especially when we went into extra time, and they scored their goal. It would have been easy for us to drop our heads and give up, but we didn’t, and that has shown that we can do that – it’s brilliant from all of the players.”

Kay was one of Vale’s outstanding players on the night, and his wonder goal certainly gave the fans something to cheer about: “It was just one of them shots that sat up perfect for me, so I just came across it and hit it and it’s gone in. 

“With the wind and with nine men as well, we didn’t have many other options but to shoot. I tried it a couple of times in the second half - he was off his line quite a lot.

“It’s nice to score, but I would be happier if we would have won.”

Like his manager, the former Bury man is looking to take the positives from last night’s tie into the weekend: “Everything from start to finish. 

“We were a bit ropey in the first 15 minutes, but after that we have done brilliant and we have to take that into Saturday.

“We have a day off tomorrow, to come in on Thursday and prepare for Carlisle - it’s just another day then.”