Port Vale travel to MK Dons on Saturday in the first round of the FA Cup, and the gaffer believes that his side have a good chance of progressing.

The Vale made it two successive away wins on Saturday with a win at local rivals Crewe Alexandra, and Askey says his side are confident they can make it three against the Dons on Saturday.

MK Dons currently sit in the relegation zone in League One but are now with a new manager, and Askey stresses that his side are not expected to win this fixture which will allow his players to head into the match more relaxed.

The Valiants last made the third round of the prestigious competition back in the 2016/17 season, and the Vale boss has emphasised how much it could help the club if they could repeat that this campaign.

“It gives us confidence and it gives us a breather away from the league, you can go into the game more relaxed. We’re not expected to win but we know that MK Dons have been struggling, they’ve just had a change of manager so we don’t really know what to expect from them, but we feel as if we’ve got a good chance.

“We need to get back-to-back wins and the F.A Cup could provide us with that. But I think the F.A Cup also creates a lot of interest and there is a lot of money to be made in the cup and that could help us.

“It would put the football club in a better position financially if we could get to the third round and as I say it creates a lot of interest and it keeps that feel good factor at the club as well."

Following an impressive display at Gresty Road on Saturday afternoon, the gaffer has said that it is important for his side to follow that up with another good performance, which he admits his side have struggled to do on previous occasions. 

The Vale have now lost just one in their last nine in all competitions, yet despite the confidence in the team, Askey says the most important thing is to stay grounded and focus on the next match.

Askey's side now sit just two points away from a play-off spot, and the gaffer stresses that if his players continue to work hard then they can achieve something this season.

“You enjoy days like that, but we’ve not been able to follow it up in previous game and that is what we have to do now.

“We keep getting into this position so its important now that we realise why we did well on Saturday, and that is because we worked hard and played some good football. We’ve got to repeat it again in our next game, so that’ll be the message, and the players know that anyway without me having to tell them.

"After results like that it's just keeping everybody grounded really, we're trying to achieve things and we can only achieve things by working hard."