Brad Walker spoke to the press ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Peterborough United.

• Brad Walker | "The Competition Is Keeping Standards High"
• Following back-to-back victories over Shrewsbury Town, the Vale are now five matches unbeaten in all competitions
• Walker: "I think we’ve been a good match for everyone we’ve played so far"

Port Vale's versatile midfielder Brad Walker says healthy competition within the squad is driving high standards in training and matches.

Walker, who returned from injury to score in the Vale's 4-0 Papa Johns Trophy victory against former club Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night, told the press on Friday:

“The competition is really good, competition makes you better as a player and makes the people who’re playing better players, because if you don’t keep your standards high then there’s always someone in the squad waiting to come in.

“The competition is really good in areas of the squad, so it can only be good for the team.”  

With 40 games at League One level under his belt, Walker is one of the Vale's more experienced players in the third tier, though he praised how his side have been competitive in the majority of their matches, returning 12 points from nine league games.

On the competitive nature of the division, Walker added: “It’s a very tough league and there’s some very big clubs in this league, as you see with the next games we have coming up [Peterborough United, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County] so it’s going to be a good challenge to see where we’re at.

“I think we’ve been a good match for everyone we’ve played so far. Bar the Exeter game, I think we’ve been in every single game we’ve played and we’re not far away at all from getting some good results.

“We’re looking forward to facing the best teams in this league and it’s going to be a good chance for all of us to test where we’re at, and hopefully we can give them all a good game.

When asked whether his brief experience within the league helps, Walker added: “I have experience at playing in this league, and although it’s not a massive jump from last season, it does help, so if there’s any young lads or lads who haven’t played at this level playing, then I’ll happily pass my knowledge across."