TC looks ahead to Wednesday night’s Papa Johns Trophy clash with Barnsley at Vale Park.

• Tom Conlon | “We take more confidence from Saturday’s performance and result”
• Port Vale midfielder Tom Conlon looks ahead to his side’s Round of 32 Papa Johns Trophy clash with Barnsley at Vale Park
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Port Vale midfielder Tom Conlon says Darrell Clarke’s side will take confidence from their 1-0 win against Charlton Athletic on Saturday as they look to take momentum from consecutive home league victories into Wednesday night’s Papa Johns Trophy Round of 32 clash with Barnsley.

Speaking to the local media ahead of Wednesday’s 7:30pm kick-off at Vale Park, Conlon said:

“Wins spread confidence and we take so much of that from Saturday because Saturday was so much more like us than against Oxford, which we had to bounce back from.

“We definitely had to repay that because it wasn’t up to scratch. I think we did that and now it is about moving forward, doing what we did on Saturday and putting it into Wednesday night’s game.”

Fresh off a win at Wembley just six months ago in the League Two Play-Offs final, Conlon says the Vale naturally draw motivation from the potential of a final at the national stadium, should they progress through the knockout stages of the Papa Johns Trophy.

“The gaffer and Cros have always said that the motivation is Wembley,” he explained. “It has always been that way since the First Round and we are a bit closer now but we wanted to keep progressing.

“We know how good a day it was for us as players, our families and the supporters so that is the motivation, it always has been and still is.

“Your motivation as a footballer is that you want to win the next game; whether that is a cup game or a league game. It is a cup game that we want to win and we will be doing everything we can to win it.”

In terms of potential opponents in the Papa Johns Trophy draw, Barnsley was as tough a draw as the Vale could have faced in the regionalised Round of 32 draw, with the Tykes currently sixth in the League One table.

And Conlon says the Vale are very aware of the qualities of Michael Duff’s side, having played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Oakwell in September.

“We have got MJ [Michael Johnson] who does the video analysis; he is unbelievable at his job and does so much work for us, so we always know about the opposition,” Conlon added.

“They have come out of the Championship, we know they are a good team and we have to be at our best to compete with them. If we fly out of the blocks like we did on Saturday, then we will have a real chance.”