Manager praises supporters as the Vale narrowly edged out by wonder-strike from Sheffield Wednesday’s Will Vaulks.

• Darrell Clarke | “I thought our fans were outstanding”
• Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke on his side’s 1-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, the support from his side’s fans as the club’s biggest crowd of the season watches narrow defeat to high-flying Owls
• Clarke: “First and foremost, I would like to thank our fans – I thought they were absolutely outstanding. It was a really good atmosphere, they got behind the lads, stayed behind the lads and it is a great strike from their lad that wins the game.”

Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke praised his side’s supporters for the way in which they got behind their side and stuck with them as the Vale were narrowly edged out by a wonder strike from Sheffield Wednesday’s Will Vaulks.

The Vale were more than competitive against the League One promotion chasers and it took a sensational goal from Wales international Vaulks to decide a game played in front of the biggest crowd of the season to date at Vale Park.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank our fans,” Clarke said. “I thought they were absolutely outstanding. It was a really good atmosphere, they got behind the lads, stayed behind the lads and it is a great strike from their lad that wins the game.

“One thing I know about our fans is that if you give everything for the shirt, they will stick behind you and get behind you, without a shadow of a doubt – they have been like that since day one.

“They will also let you know when you’re not. That is fair enough for me, I love honest fans like our fans, they pay their hard-earned money. We want more for them and we will work hard to get more for them.”

Reflecting on the game itself, Clarke felt his side started excellently and accepted that the difference between the two sides was a moment of brilliance.

“We are disappointed,” he added. “We played a lot better in the first half than the second half in a game that was tight and scrappy and probably could have gone either way.

“We want to have a good go at teams, certainly when we are at home with the ball, with a high press and cause them problems. That little bit of quality in the right area wasn’t to be [today].

“That is what can happen; the top teams at this level have that real, genuine quality throughout their group and they can hurt you, but what I will say is that we competed against those teams, we have to compete against those teams, and that for me is the future of where we are heading, where we get to the stage where we are beating those top teams. On today’s performance, I don’t think we are a million miles away.

“We are learning, developing and more of our lads are playing League One games against bigger teams. It is a tight division and we know we have a tough October on paper but we relish the challenge that is ahead. The fans will stick with us – I know they will do – and we will keep fighting and plugging away and trying to improve the group.”