Port Vale wing-back Mitch Clark says Saturday’s opening-day defeat in League One showed them another relegation fight beckons if they carry on producing performances like their first-half display against Rotherham.
Vale’s first game back in the third division following last season’s promotion got off to a shaky start, with them behind 2-0 after 29 minutes and being reduced to ten men three minutes later when Jaheim Headley was sent off for a hard challenge.
Connor Hall tapped in Clark’s cross on the hour, as Vale improved after a quadruple replacement at half-time.
Despite their revival, Vale were unable to produce an equaliser, and Clark, who was relegated from League One two seasons ago, described the first 45 minutes as a depressing reminder of the division’s standards.
“Yeah, 100%,” he told BBC Radio Stoke.
“If people weren’t familiar with League One, they surely saw it in the first half. We cannot do that again. We need to make the second half last 90 minutes.
“You can’t perform like that in the first 45 minutes; we know if we do, we’ll only go one place, and we don’t want that to happen.
“We want to be as high in the table as possible.”
‘It’s about proving I can play at this level’
Vale have an early opportunity to put the weekend disappointment behind them with their first home game of the season on Thursday against Cardiff City.
“We can only take positives from that second half and show that on Thursday,” the coach stated.
“We assessed the game [Rotherham] on Monday and everyone knows what we have to do to be better.”
Clark, 26, signed a new one-year contract with Vale in June and was given the opportunity to stake his claim for the right wing-back position against the Millers, with Kyle John on the bench and summer addition Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel out.
“At the end of the day, we all want to play; it’s a part of football,” said Clark, who is on his fourth loan term with the club.
“It’s about competing properly and getting the most out of each other.
“I always wanted to resign, no matter what the possibilities were. It was my number one priority. I’ve been here for a long time, through several spells.
Clark stated that he spent the preseason “thinking a lot about” bringing more of an offensive threat to his game.
“I was getting into the proper position, but I wasn’t scoring or assisting [last season], so that’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot this season.
“Even with Jordan coming in, I still believe I have a lot to give.
“It’s now about proving to people I am capable of playing at this level.”
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