Port Vale: Adams eyes more transfer movement

MICKY Adams is sizing up the possibility of more transfer activity after letting Clayton McDonald leave the club yesterday.

The Vale boss, who has brought in four players since the start of the month, allowed central defender McDonald to join League Two rivals Bristol Rovers on loan.

And there could be more movement, both in and out, before the end of the January window.

Left-back Daniel Jones became the club's fourth new arrival at the end of last week, following defender Darren Purse, midfielder Chris Birchall and Lee Hughes into Vale Park.

"We're looking at a couple of options, perhaps in terms of younger players coming into the squad," said Adams.

"They might not necessarily be for this season, but for the years ahead.

"And maybe one or two will depart, possibly on loans."

McDonald will stay at the Memorial Ground until the end of the season, though Vale have a clause in place to recall him after the first 28 days if required.

The 24-year-old was a virtual ever-present at the start of the season and has made 23 starts this campaign.

He has made 59 appearances for the club since joining from Walsall in the summer of 2011.

Adams said he was happy with how the transfer window had panned out so far.

"I'm delighted with business I've done," he said, "and perhaps we've got players other teams would have wanted.

"I'm just trying to get a squad together that can get us out of this division.

"I think it's a competitive squad now and the numbers are there.

"I wouldn't be afraid to throw any of those players into the first team and I'm sure they would do a decent job."

Adams was quick to praise owners Paul Wildes and Norman Smurthwaite for backing him in the transfer market this month.

"If we hadn't had the takeover, there's no way the four players we have attracted to the club during this month would have been here," said the Vale boss.

"We just wouldn't have been able to afford them.

"So I'd like to offer my thanks to the chairman and chief executive who have dipped into their pockets to enable me to do what we've done.

"Hopefully, we now have a squad that will take the club where it wants to go."

Adams is preparing his squad for Thursday's trip to AFC Wimbledon, but admitted training had been badly affected by the bad weather which caused Saturday's game at home to Bradford to be called off.

"It has been awful," he said. "We were going to train over the weekend, but we cancelled it in the end.

"We didn't want the players travelling in and maybe getting into an accident.

"It wasn't ideal, but we asked them to do some work on their own. Trust comes into it and hopefully they did that.

"We just haven't got the facilities for when the weather goes like this, like a lot of clubs at our level.

"But we were back in on Monday and we had a game on the snow, a bit like we used to at school."

The Bradford game was the second postponement of the season, after the home game against AFC Wimbledon was called off on December 22.

But the Vale boss said he was not yet concerned about a potential fixture pile-up.

"We've had to swallow a couple of games, but everyone else has had to do the same," he said.

"The clubs with the bigger squads, like ourselves, who have the cover to cope, and the ability to bring in loan players if needs be, will do better."