Vale travel to Edinburgh on Friday night to play Spartans.
Chris is hoping that his injury list will improve and that he has a couple of new players available.
Although the Vale will be underdogs, with it being a Cup Tie everyone is optimistic that a good performance on the night can result in us making the next round.
Chris Anderson is urging the Vale of Leithen players to show they are up for the fight, or be prepared to move on.
East of Scotland side Tweedmouth Rangers are the visitors to Victoria Park today, before a trip to face Spartans next Friday in the Scottish Cup.
And Anderson wants his charges to show grit and courage to turn around the form which has seen them win only two matches so far this season.
He recently spoke up in defiance of his belief in the players, but has warned that if an upturn in performance does not come then they will not be picked for the big fixture at Spartans, or possibly even have a future at the club.
He said: “In my opinion no team has the right to turn up and win a game without doing the basics and I expect my team to come with the attitude and work rate that will enable us to perform.
“We have a massive game in the Scottish Cup against Spartans approaching and my advice to the players would be to perform on Saturday or sit and watch our next game in the stands.
“My thoughts on the game are clear and going forward we can’t afford to carry any passengers on our journey to improve. If players want to stay at the club then performances have to improve.”
For a change Vale will go into this match expected to win against the side at the bottom of the East of Scotland League. An assured display is expected to carry them into the Ainslie Park fixture on Friday. The manager also revealed that there will be a debutant in the sticks.
“We go into the match as firm favourites despite our poor start to the season. Our performances in the league haven’t been to the level we’ve expected of late and we now go into a welcome break from league action.
“Today we add a couple of new players to the squad and goalkeeper Kieran Beveridge will make his debut after training with us for a number of weeks.
“We are all expecting a positive performance going into next week’s Scottish Cup tie”, added Anderson.
After grabbing the first goal of his second Vale stint last weekend, Shaun Stevens is determined for both he and the team to continue to progress.
The goal came in in the 2-0 victory over Hawick Royal Albert which was a first league win since the second day of the season and moved them away from the bottom. Hawick remain in bottom spot with Vale now six points clear.
And on a personal level Stevens, 20, wants to use the goal as motivation to keep performing, while also hoping his team-mates can kick on after a morale boosting victory.
He said: “My goal against Hawick was my first competitive goal since re-signing and it feels good breaking the deadlock, it’s a confidence booster for myself and for the team as we aren’t scoring enough goals.
“Before the game against Hawick the gaffer continued to emphasise how important a match it was for us because they hadn’t won a game and that has to come to end at some point. So we knew how vital it was for us to get three points.
“Hopefully we can build on it and go on a better run of form. We haven’t had the best of luck with decisions going our way and injuries so hopefully a turning point there too.”
They don’t come much tougher than a visit to Broadwood Stadium to take on Cumbernauld Colts. They finished sixth in the table last time out and currently sit seventh having lost only two matches. Vale by comparison have only won two, losing the other five.
They have though shown themselves to be capable of picking up points from difficult encounters, none more so than triumphing in the same fixture last year.
Forward Stevens added: “Obviously Cumbernauld are a good side but then again we’re a good side too when we’re playing at our best. It will have to be our best to get three points tomorrow.”
Chris Anderson has asked his players to give him the same application as they did last weekend in today’s crunch match against Hawick Royal Albert.
Despite the 2-0 defeat to East Stirlingshire last Saturday Anderson was pleased with the commitment shown by the team. An injury depleted squad was up against it but defended well and worked manfully to limit their opponents. Their resolve was finally broken after more than an hour before they conceded another in the last minute while trying to chase an equaliser.
Today’s Borders derby takes on extra importance because it is a match up between the Lowland League’s bottom two sides. Vale have three points thanks to their solitary win over Edinburgh University while Hawick are just below with nothing to show for their efforts so far.
Vale could jump a few places with a win and the manager believes that can happen if the players carry the intensity levels they produced against Shire. He said: “Last week’s performance was encouraging and if we play with the same energy and enthusiasm then we will give ourselves a chance today.
“Despite poor results I have tremendous faith in the players I have brought to the club and once we are at full strength we will start to climb the league. Confidence is something that comes with results and we are determined to make today the starting point.”
The injury crisis has not fully abated yet but the options available on match day are slowly beginning to grow back to a more agreeable size with Anderson revealing that two of his men will be back in the fold today.
“Our squad had been hit hard by injuries of late and it’s great to welcome back Ross Brady and Jay Stevens to the squad for today’s game. James Elliot and Andy Martin are still a few weeks away from full fitness.
“We are also pleased to announce Liall Smith has joined on loan from Livingston. He did well on his debut last week and I’m sure he will be a success at the Vale”, he added.
