The Vale return the League Two action tomorrow following two consecutive cup fixtures, and Scott Brown stresses that the squad must concentrate solely on league football throughout a busy December.
Tomorrow’s clash with Walsall is one of six league fixtures before the Vale’s FA Cup third round tie against Man City, and Brown admits that there is no point looking that far ahead just yet.
With promotion chasing Swindon Town and Cheltenham Town coming up over the Christmas period, the Vale keeper emphasised that his side are capable of beating anyone, and the next four weeks could define the club’s season.
The Vale currently sit just three points off seventh place, and Brown says that a good run over Christmas is vital to keeping their play-off hopes alive.
“There are six games from now until Man City so, all are focus has to be on that because you could be out the team by the time Man City comes. There’s no point thinking about that, yeah we can look forward to that and it’s a little carrot waiting at the end of the tunnel after Christmas and it gives us something to look forward to, but more importantly we’ve got three points on Saturday to play for.
“Yeah of course, obviously everyone is buzzing, but like I said there’s six games to go and I’m sure after Macclesfield, January the first, everyone can start talking about it and really looking forward to it. But as I say we’ve got a massive six games ahead of us that could make or break our season really.
“I think we’ve been around them [play-offs] for too long without ever getting in them, and that’s the next challenge to really get in there and put a good run in over Christmas.
“We’ve got some tough games coming up, but we know we’re are capable of matching anyone in this league and we have to look forward to the league rather than the cup at the minute.”
With six wins from seven in all competitions for the Valiants, Brown explains the great spirit amongst the side heading into a tough period of fixtures
The Vale shot stopper also emphasises the importance of current squad members signing new deals, as it is imperative to keeping the squad morale high.
Jake Taylor received high praise from Brown, and the keeper says that keeping the midfielder at the club past January would be fantastic.
“I think people will be looking at the team now and in January, and hopefully the gaffer will have a bit of budget to spend, and like the lads that are out of as well hopefully they should be the priority to keep.
"You’ve got players like Gibbo [James Gibbons], Smudge [Nathan Smith], people like that, and Wozza [David Worrall] who has played a lot of games, and Taylor [Jake Taylor] who has come in and hopefully we can sort something out for him as well.
“I think he’s top league scorer, I think he’s got four goals by Christmas from midfield, which if you double that by the end of the season, he could be getting double figures from midfield, so if we could do a deal for him that would be fantastic.
“Like I say keeping the spirit in the dressing room is really important because we’ve got a great spirit at the minute and really looking forward to the second-half of the season."