Alex boss praises the job achieved by Rob Page in turning Port Vale into play-off hopefuls

Steve Davis has praised the superb job Rob Page has achieved in such a short space of time at Port Vale.

place in League One. ^thThe former Wales International replaced Mickey Adams as manager back in mid-September with the Valiants second from bottom but a fairly consistent run of nine wins and three draws from his 20 matches in charge have propelled the club up to 9

Ahead of this weekend’s derby clash at Vale Park, Steve told crewealex.net: “It is always a tough game at Vale Park and that doesn’t matter who is in charge of the two clubs.

“I always enjoyed the battles with Mickey and I will now enjoy it with Rob. It is just a great game to be involved in and the one everyone looks forward to.

“Rob has done very well since succeeding Mickey. He has a good mix of youth and experienced and he has used the loan market very well, like you have to try and do.

“He has come in as his own man and has stamped his own authority on things. The players have responded well to what he wants and they are just outside the play-offs so there is plenty for both clubs to play for.

He added: “They are in decent form and so are we, so it just adds to the occasion. Everything about this game is a bit more hyped with the build-up in the press but we are just focussed on getting a good result.”