Neil Aspin was left disappointed to come away without any points from Accrington Stanley yesterday following the 3-2 defeat at the Wham Stadium.

The Valiants took a 2-0 lead into half-time but were unable to hold off a brace from Sean McConville and a controversial equaliser from Billy Kee.

Despite controversy following Kee’s goal, the gaffer simply believes that his side weren’t good enough to avoid in Lancashire.

He said: “It’s a decision that has gone against us, but I won’t make excuses after every game.

“Our defending during the second-half, especially during that ten-minute period, wasn’t good enough.

“We got punished and we need to do better.”

Vale now hover just six points above the dropzone which has allowed the gaffer to be ready for the fight ahead.

“It’s a fight for us,” Aspin added. 

“We’re not picking up points consistently, but today we were in a good position at half-time and we expected to get something from the game. We weren’t convincing. 

“There was a lot of things at half-time which I wasn’t happy about and we have to do better.”

Luke Hannant also made his debut in a Vale shirt under his former manager within Aspin. The gaffer thought that the 24-year old did well despite being thrown in the deep-end and was happy with his overall performance.

“Luke did quite well.

“He certainly wasn’t out of place and I know he has enough attributes to do well at this level. It’s disappointing that we have lost the game today, but overall, he did well.

“He will be a useful player for us.”