Tom Anderson insists that he has learned ‘a lot’ from his loan spell at Vale Park so far and the 24-year-old is focused on helping the club climb away from danger in Sky Bet League Two.

He and Nathan Smith have impressed as a partnership in the heart of defence and he believes that their relationship on and off the pitch is growing.

“Smithy is a great player and a good lad, he’s easy to get along with and easy to play with on the pitch,” said Anderson. 

“I know we’re both quite young, but I think we’re dealing with things well and playing well together as a pairing.

“It’s a big bonus too when your manager has played in the position you’re in. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from him.

“He’s been good so far and hopefully we can pick up some points and climb the league.”

On the league position, Anderson added: “We’ve just got to keep working hard and things can change pretty quickly.

“If you get a few results under your belts like we did a few weeks back you get some momentum, so we’ve just got to make sure we keep doing that.

“I’m loving it here, and despite us not being where we want to be at this moment of time, you can’t beat playing football. 

“Minus perhaps the first ten games of the season, we’ve had a decent run so we need to stay focused and pick up more points.”

Vale are in Checkatrade Trophy action on Tuesday night as they welcome Shrewsbury Town to Burslem, with Anderson dubbing it as a ‘very important’ game.

He said: “It’s another match and you want to go out and win every one you play, but this gives you a chance of getting to Wembley. 

“We’ll give it our best shot like we do every game and see what happens.

“When you’re at home you fancy your chances, but Shrewsbury have been doing very well this season and it won’t be easy. 

“We’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves and what we do.”