Port Vale lost ground in their relegation battle after losing at home to Bradford City at the hands of former loanee striker Alex Jones.

Jones was only on the pitch for a minute after scoring the winner in the tightly fought affair, after JJ Hooper had got Vale back on level terms midway through the second half.

Midfielder Sam Foley spoke exclusively to Valiant PlayerHD: “Obviously it is very disappointing. We are in a pretty bad situation at the minute and we are desperate for as many points as we can get, and in all fairness I think it is not really true reflection on the day.”

He continued: “I thought that in the second half we were all over them, we had caused them problems where they have had to change their shape three different times. Then that is football, they go on against the run of play and score which was the winner.”

This result was typical of recent performances, Vale had chances to go on and win the game themselves, but unfortunately could not do enough: “It is very frustrating. All we can do is trust each other and stay close as a group and hopefully come through it. We feel like we do have that about us and hopefully we can see an improvement.”

Foley returned from injury a month ago and is still working towards full fitness: “I don’t feel like I am there yet. It has been difficult, the manager has asked me to come in and play like I have done in the past, because the situation before I had the operation was that I just wanted to play as much as I could and help the team so I am back into that same situation.

My fitness is going to come from playing games, and it is going to take a while, especially with playing so many games I have missed quite a few training sessions which is not ideal, but playing and winning football matches is the main priority”, he added.

With games coming thick and fast, the 30-year old remains confident of upcoming fixtures despite their opponents and looks onwards to Rochdale:“We need to leave the disappointment of today behind and focus on that. Going away from home is never easy in this league, and we just need to stick together and do what we do best and try and get all three points.”