I’ll need all three centre-halves: Page gives defensive tactics hint
Manager Rob Page says three centre-halves “will be needed” and he views Ryan McGivern as a left-back rather than central defender.
Page told the Sentinel: “Ryan has come in and given us real competition. We’ve got Remie, Ryan and Richard Duffy as well as Ryan McGivern, who I see more as a left-back.
I’ve got a plan in my head that I think will work for us and I’m going to need all three at some stage. I’m not going to give too much away but all three will be needed…
“We’ve got that depth throughout the squad. I’ve got a plan in my head that I think will work for us and I’m going to need all three at some stage. I’m not going to give too much away but all three will be needed.
“They are all a massive part of what I want to do at this football club.”
Page’s idea of needing all three centre-halves is not clear but it could mean: simply that all three will be needed to cover suspensions or injury, picking a defensive pairing based on the opposition (so paring two from three), using Duffy’s experience alongside one of the less experienced men or possibly using all three as part of a back three or back five.
Vale’s Defensive Resources
Main position: Right-back
- Ben Purkiss (pictured above)
- Adam Yates
Main position: Centre-half
- Ryan Inniss
- Remie Streete
- Richard Duffy
- Nathan Smith (on loan to Torquay United)
- Lewis Bergin (youth team graduate)
Main position: Left-back
- Carl Dickinson
- Ryan McGivern
- Aziz Deen-Conteh