MICKY Adams will keep faith with his trusty 4-4-2 system when he bids for promotion with Port Vale next season.

The manager played three centre-halves in 3-4-3 formation at the start of last season.

But after adding the likes of attacking loan duo Lewis Haldane and Sean Rigg to his squad, Adams switched to his preferred 4-4-2 formation at the turn of the year.

The move helped power the club to a 10th-placed finish, just four points adrift of the League Two play-off places.

"My intention is to play 4-4-2 again this season, but I won't rule out playing three centre-halves after assessing our opponents," said Adams.

"Last season, we didn't start with 4-4-2 because we didn't have the players to pull it off.

"But I'm more comfortable with this squad now and I know they're capable of doing the job.

"It's a positive formation, especially at home, when you have two out-and-out strikers.

"It's also an easier system for the players to understand, so it's easier to coach."

Vale were 16th – eight points off the top-seven – when Adams switched to 4-4-2 for their 2-1 victory at Grimsby on December 28.

They went on to record another 11 victories from their remaining 22 league games – boosting their total number of wins to 17.

"Our results in the second-half of the season were a lot more positive," added Adams.

"The 3-4-3 system was a means to an end in terms of preventing defeats and to help us be more competitive.

"It made us a little bit bigger because we had three six ft-plus centre-halves, and if you're not big enough, you're going to get found out at this level."

Vale have deployed a 4-4-2 system in their six senior pre-season clashes, including this week's wins over Irish outfits Athlone Town (2-0) and Mervue United (1-0).

Vale complete their Irish schedule today with a game against Ballinasloe Town at their 2,000-capacity Curragh Ground (3pm) in County Galway. Ballinasloe have won the Roscommon and District League three years out of the last four, although they finished runners-up to Shiven Rovers last season.

The Roscommon League is one tier below the League Of Ireland First Division, where Athlone and Mervue play their football.

Defender Gareth Owen is a doubt for the game after picking up a hamstring injury at Mervue on Thursday.