Neil Aspin has high hopes of keeping Port Vale duo, Gavin Gunning and Ben Whitfield beyond January and the rest of the season.

Whitfield’s loan deal runs out in January where he will be recalled to AFC Bournemouth afterwards.

Gunning’s deal also runs out in January where he initially signed a six-month deal, but after impressing, the gaffer is keen to extend.

Both have impressed at Vale Park since their arrival as the gaffer is due to hold talks with both of the players and Ben’s parent club of Bournemouth.

He said: “Bournemouth have a meeting this week and we should hear about that before the end of the week.

“It would be a positive step for us if we can make ground on that. 

“With regards to Gav [Gavin Gunning], I want to keep him at the club. We’ll being having chats in the week and I want to sort it out. He’s done really well for me since I've been here, I want to keep him longer.”

With the January transfer window quickly approaching, Aspin expects a difficult period in terms of bringing players in. But, admits that he would like to bring in a few new faces to Vale Park.

“It will be a difficult month in terms of bringing in players we want,” he said. 

“There’s no point bringing in players to add to the numbers we’ve got if they are not going to improve the team. I will certainly not be making any hasty decisions which leaves us with players that we won’t use.

“We’re looking at all avenues and hopefully there will be a few players that come in. But, I’d be wrong to give some assurances on that because there’s lots of things that need to happen before that."