Explosive winger Mark Marshall has spoken of his excitement to get the season underway and hopes he has done enough to cement his place in the starting eleven come Saturday.

August, kick-off 3pm.^thMarshall feels that even though the Vale lost against Southport last Saturday, the squad is more than good enough to make a splash in the Sky Bet League One, starting with the local derby against rivals Walsall on Saturday 9

Mark explained: “On Saturday the serious business starts, and I hope we get the three points to get the season off in a good way.

“I think that when it comes to league games we will do very well because the lads have shown what they can do and we have enough quality to compete in this league.

“As an individual you are always going to want to force your way into the starting line-up because you want to play but like with anything you want to look for that level of consistency.

“I always think that if a manager can get 70% or more, every game out of you or 35 good games, then I think he’s going to be happy with that.

“The loss at Southport on Saturday was a knock back, but you have to take it on your chin and look forward to another day, you can’t dwell on it because it can go downhill if you do.”

The down-to-earth midfielder is not taking anything for granted and feels he will fight for his place in the team.

He continued: “I’m looking forward to the Walsall match, I just want to keep working hard and see if I can hold down a place in the starting line-up.

“I always say nothing is guaranteed, I’ve been in many positions before where I could see what I wanted right in front of me and it’s been taken away.

“So no matter how good or how bad things may seem, you’ve just got to work hard and see where it takes you.”

However, Marshall feels that he has done enough during the pre-season to get a place in the side for the first game of the season.

He said: “The Gaffer has told me to get my head down and work hard, and I’ll reap the rewards and that’s what I aim to do.

“I’ve been working really hard on the pitch during pre-season and hopefully I’ll bring something to the team, that’s the main thing because at the end of the day it’s a team sport

“As long as we get three points then I’ll be delighted because it makes me and the rest of the team look good, and more importantly it makes the fans happy.”