Jon Brady frustrated by Port Vale’s lack of cutting edge

Port Vale boss Jon Brady revealed his frustration at his side’s lack of firepower as a 0-0 draw at home to Wigan saw them slip closer to the drop.

Joe Taylor and Will Aimson wasted chances for Wigan before Ethon Archer had penalty shouts waved away during an eventful first half.

Archer forced Sam Tickle into a good save just before the hour mark as Vale continued to struggle for chances.

The hosts were then denied in stoppage time by a brilliant reflex save from Tickle to keep out Ben Waine’s effort.

“I am not frustrated with the way we played or the effort, but I am frustrated we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net,” said Brady.

“It was a problem before I came in and it is still a problem. We have not scored enough goals this season to try and stay up with.

“We had a couple of chances. A little bit more care is needed. We are trying to work on things. It is just fine margins at the moment and frustrating all around.

“I am pleased with the effort, though, you can’t ask for more than that. We came in and knew it was a tough task to stay up because we were adrift.

“We wanted to be competitive and catch the next team and so on. We always go into the next game trying to win it. We have three away games that are big challenges.

“If we win all our games and those above don’t then we can stay up, but we know it’s a tall task. We won’t give in because the players have their personal pride and we want to win games.”

Wigan head coach Gary Caldwell felt his side came through a tough test.

“It was a hard point in the end, we knew it would be a difficult game because they have been good at home,” he said.

“I thought we were the better team in the first half and created some good opportunities that would have made the game different if we had taken one.

“In the second half they are throwing everything at us and we had to defend well and see the game out.

“Sam (Tickle) makes a brilliant save at the end to get us a clean sheet and a point. He has made some brilliant saves for us since I have come back.

“We came to try and win the game and started positively. We didn’t take those chances and it gave them something to hang on to and push for the win.

“It is another clean sheet which is a really pleasing thing. As a team we have become much harder to play against and much harder to score against and that is a brilliant platform for us.”