Vale make the journey to Merseyside this weekend as they face Tranmere Rovers in Sky Bet League Two action. The Valiants will be looking for their first points on the road against Micky Mellon’s side and Gary Brabin believes they need to be better going forward.

The Vale have kept two clean sheets from their opening four league games, as the defence have continued to impress since the opening day of the season.

Leon Legge has provided a wealth of experience alongside Connell Rawlinson and Nathan Smith, and the young Mitchell Clark looks to be extremely promising following his loan from Aston Villa.

Brabin is now asking his attackers to relieve the pressure on the defence by being more lethal in front of goal.

“Defensively we feel like we’re in a good place and we think we’ll get better again – we just need to take that bit more pressure off the defence by being a bit better than what we’ve shown of late attacking wise.

“We’re working hard trying to get little combinations and finding the right balance, but the lads are optimistic."

This weekend marks the first occasion Gary Brabin will return as a coach to Prenton Park, having managed there during the 2015/16 season.

Brabin took charge of the Rovers just a few seasons ago leading them to a sixth-place finish in the National League, just missing out on the play-off places by a few points.

The Vale coach says he is looking forward to returning to Prenton Park but is expecting a tough test against Mellon’s side.

He said: “I’m looking forward to seeing the people I got on really well with, I had a really good relationship with a lot of the supporters – it will be nice on that front.

“But I’m going there to do a job with Port Vale, and I’ll concentrate on the game.

“They’re at home, they’ll want to play on the front foot and get at us – they’ll expect to win, as we do. 

“They’ve got good players, so it will be a tough game, but we’ve got to concentrate on ourselves.”