Moore on 'important' Bolton trip as Port Vale battle for survival

Darren Moore has vowed Port Vale will keep fighting as they look to pull off a great escape in the last couple of games.

The Valiants find themselves 22nd in the League One table, three points adrift, ahead of their trip to Wanderers this weekend.

Moore, who took charge in February following Andy Crosby’s sacking, says they must approach Saturday’s fixture “in the right frame of mind”.

“We know what we have got to do now,” he said. “With two remaining games, if we want to take it to the last game of the season against Cambridge, it is there for all to see what we need to do on Saturday.

“That is the way we have got to look at it and we will approach the game in the right frame of mind. We know after the results (on Tuesday night) what we have got to do.

“We are still in the fight whenever it is mathematically possible and we will continue to work and fight.

“It is all about the players’ recovery and then we will get back in, dust ourselves down and look forward to another really important game.

“They are all tough games because of the position we are in and we have to stay together. We will see what the game brings on Saturday but we have got to be right for it.”

Moore’s side were beaten 2-1 by Wycombe in midweek, with Nigel Lonwijk scoring the winner four minutes from time.

The Valiants have now gone five games without victory in the league, picking up one point in the process.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb in the first half, conceding so early,” the manager added.

“We changed the shape halfway through the first half. I didn’t think there was enough appetite so we dropped into a back four and that seemed to give us more impetus.

“We got back into the game and then it became two teams battling it out. We had a couple of half chances and rushed it a couple of times when we got into the final third, where I thought we could have showed a bit more composure.

“It is disappointing to lose to a goal in the last five minutes of the game, when the ascendancy looked like it was in our favour. It looked like probably a lapse of concentration.”

Wanderers recorded a 1-0 victory at Vale Park earlier in the season, with Dion Charles getting the decisive goal.

The Whites also ran out 2-0 winners in the EFL Trophy second round, with Charles and Carlos Mendes Gomes both on target that night.