Vale are back in action tonight following their disappointing 2-0 defeat at Colchester United last Saturday.

Aspin's side welcome Lincoln City to Vale Park this evening for a place in the second round of the Carabao Cup. 

The Imps have impressed in the league right off the bat, picking up six points out of a possible six following victories over Swindon Town and Northampton and now find themselves in second place in the league.

The gaffer is well aware his side will face a tough test this evening to progress to the second round of the Cup, though is feeling positive ahead of the tie.

"You'll never get an easy game against Lincoln. They're a hard team to beat - you've got to play well to beat them.

"We need all of our players performing tomorrow to be in with a chance.

"If you're going to be playing one of the teams in your league at this stage of the cup, then Lincoln are one of the most difficult.

"We've got to go out there and perform a lot better than we did on Saturday."

The boss has also provided an update on the Tom Pope's condition following last weekend's game at the JobServe community Stadium.

The skipper was pulled from the game before half-time with a hip injury after he suffered an uncomfortable fall.

Aspin said: "If you've seen the footage of his fall, you can tell it was a really heavy fall. 

"He's struggling for the game tonight but we'll continue to assess it every day and see how it is.

"It was a heavy fall and we were all obviously disappointed that we had to bring him off."