Manager Neil Aspin will not let the "disappointing result" from last night's 2-1 defeat to Carlisle United, affect his sides mentality heading into Saturday against Tranmere Rovers.

A questionable penalty decision and a corner proved to be the undoing for the Valiants last night, despite a spirited second half performance which saw Vale create plenty of chances and pull a goal back, thanks to an excellent Luke Hannant free kick.  

The loss meant the Vale are still in search of their first away league win of the year, but Neil Aspin took a lot of positives from the second half performance.

"We're disappointed with the result... I thought the second half we were excellent. We thoroughly deserved to get something from the game.

"When you take into account we were 1-0 down at half time to a decision that shouldn't have been a penalty, I think it's really unfortunate. 

"I think, although we got the points on Saturday, I'm probably more confident that we can pick up points throughout the season after tonight then probably I was on Saturday.

"We changed the shape obviously before the game and at half time and I thought were more positive in the second half, we had a better shape to the team and caused them problems."

One player Neil Aspin has been impressed with since his arrival is midfielder Luke Hannant, who's free kick last night made it a nervous final few minutes for the Carlisle defence.

Hannant proved to be a handful for the Carlisle United defence all night down the left hand side and was rewarded for his efforts with the goal which made it two in two for him.

His efforts haven't gone unnoticed, as Neil Aspin has admitted he's been surprised by how quickly he's been able to adapt to the league since his arrival in January.

"He's settled in really well, he's made the step up. He's took to it really well and he's been a really good player for us last season but I feel with these two goals that he's got, he's going to gain in confidence. 

"When you've got a confident player, obviously I feel he can go from strenght to strength. He's got a lot of attributes, he's two footed and like I say he can do really well this season."