FIFTEEN days without a match has not helped Vale's faltering promotion bid, admits assistant boss Mark Grew.

Defeat to non-league Grimsby Town in the FA Cup last month left Vale without a match last Saturday, when second-round ties were played.

Most clubs welcome a break to allow injured players time to regain fitness and others to rest weary limbs.

But with Vale having now gone six games without a win, and having failed to score in their last five, Grew says extra training sessions are not the ideal preparation for Saturday's trip to Dagenham and Redbridge.

Vale's last match was a goalless stalemate with Torquay United on November 26, and Grew said: "It has not been a welcome break. I would rather have been playing Salisbury Town in the FA Cup last weekend.

"We haven't scored enough goals recently, and the lack of an opportunity to put that right has made the break feel longer than two weeks.

"But we've used it in the right way. Training sessions are not a punishment. They've been necessary to keep the players fit. There has been a lot of hard work."

Extra time on the training ground has at least given loan trio Shane O'Connor, Guy Madjo and Jennison Myrie-Williams more time to bed in.

Grew has been impressed by how the new recruits – a left-back, a striker and a winger respectively – have settled in since their arrival.

He said: "They have been excellent. Their attitude has been first class.

"Guy and Jennison have come from Stevenage where Graham Westley has a strong work ethic, so I don't think it has been too much of a shock to their system coming here.

"O'Connor has also fitted in straight away."

JEFF Kent's new book What if there had been no Port in the Vale? is now on general sale across North Staffordshire and South Cheshire.

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