Goalscorer Josh Thomas – “hopefully I’ll give the gaffer a headache for Saturday”

Goalscorer Josh Thomas says he understands why he needs to be patient to be given a chance but hopes that his clinical goal against Wrexham on Tuesday gives manager Andy Crosby a “headache” for Saturday’s game against Lincoln City.

Thomas has certainly had to be patient since joining the club on loan from Swansea City but showed his quality with his third cup goal on Tuesday evening. Thomas was perfectly positioned to take advantage of Gavin Massey’s excellent cross and told the media: “That’s what strikers live for. It’s what I was brought in to do. To score is my job. My main aim is to score goals.”

It means Thomas now has three goals from six starts and nine sub appearances. However, the striker realises that manager Andy Crosby has been favouring Ryan Loft and Uche Ikpeazu in recent games and commented: “I’m just biding my time. Whenever my time comes I need to grab it with both hands. Hopefully I’ll give the gaffer a headache for Saturday.”

The loanee also paid tribute to Vale’s youngsters after Ben Lomax and Andrew Buar were both handed full debuts on Tuesday. Thomas said: “I don’t know how many youth team players we had out there but it’s testament to the club. Ben Lomax, he was so good on the ball in the first-half and he didn’t look out of place. Same as Andrew (Buar) on the left hand side. When he got going he looked a real threat.”

Thomas also thinks the youngsters can pick up good habits off some of Vale’s senior players, including himself adding: “I’m learning off the older pros. People like Nathan Smith, Jason Lowe… I think everyone can learn off them.”