“He has trained with the lads and he looks a leader."
Mark Grew says Vale’s latest signing, Carl Dickinson, has a lot to offer and he is more than happy at the prospect of the former Watford man being part of the Vale squad.Vale’s assistant manager said: “I think it’s a good signing. He can play in a number of places and so it gives us other options.
“The gaffer was interested in him a few weeks ago but nothing came of it, but when Danny Jones got injured at Kidderminster last week he upped the
process and thankfully he has joined us.
“It is important that we get competition down that left hand side, especially at left back, and I think he is a great signing.
“He has trained with the lads and he looks a leader. He has already shown his experience in training and I think that is invaluable."
Dickinson has the opportunity to show the fans just what he can do, but whether he will play against Alfreton or Leek Town has not been revealed.
Vale will split the squad between the two fixtures in order to give every player who is not currently ruled out with injury a full game.
Grew explained: “Saturday’s game at Leek was originally going to used as a youth team game, but we have looked at the number of minutes the lads have played over the pre-season and have decided they all need another full ninety minute game.
“It is important that on Saturday we split the squad up and everybody can get through that ninety minutes, and then we still have a game at Stafford Rangers next week if we need to top a few up.
“The door is still open for players to stamp their mark on the team. If you were to ask me now what the starting eleven against Brentford would be, I couldn’t tell you.
“There are opportunities for everybody to take in the next couple of games so it will be up to them to show us they warrant a place.”