Jon Brady praises Port Vale ‘belief’ after battling victory over Bolton

Defiant boss Jon Brady praised the fighting spirit of relegation-threatened Port Vale after their 1-0 home win over Bolton.

George Hall scored the only goal in the 34th minute after latching onto Jaheim Headley’s long ball.

Ben Garrity fired over before Martin Sherif saw two shots blocked as Vale pushed hard for a second after the break.

The cup kings then survived nine minutes of stoppage time to drag themselves to within 11 points of 20th place with 10 games to go.

Brady said: “The whole backline were exceptional and the will to see it through was really good.

“From what we have delivered, no-one could say the group doesn’t have fight.

“They are really proud of their performances. They took Tuesday night to heart, but in football you always get the chance to pick yourself up and go again.

“There is belief we can win games of football, let’s take it one by one.

“I wasn’t really thinking about getting my first home win. I want to win every game. I want us to perform and get a result.

“I thought we were strong and solid and we were good in transition, because we have a lot of speed that can frighten the opposition.

“The players stood up really well. We knew they would go one v one on set-pieces and there is the danger at the back. Jaheim hit a wonderful ball and put it in the space for George.

“I’m pleased for George because I would like to see more goals and assists from him.”

Frustrated Bolton boss Steven Schumacher felt his side got what they deserved.

He said: “It is a huge disappointment and a game to forget. It didn’t look like a game of football, the pitch doesn’t allow you to play football.

“I thought, for 30 minutes when the game was going to plan, we looked OK. Then from one of our corners we got done on the counter with just one ball over the top.

“It gives them a 1-0 head start again and then they can defend deep and cause trouble on the counter-attack.

“We had to then try and find a way to score a goal on that pitch which is really hard.

“I have just said to the lads that you can’t expect to get automatic promotion if you can’t beat Rotherham, Doncaster and Port Vale, who are all down there.

“If you want to be in the top two spots you have to be ruthless and clinical. The previous two games we have played well, created lots of chances and should have won both of them.

“Today we haven’t played well, we haven’t created chances and we probably deserved to get beat.”