A trip to one of the Lowland League’s top sides could be seen as a daunting one, but Jason Stevens insists that a pitch that suits Vale and confidence from the last result could be key if they are to get a result at Cumbernauld Colts.

The 3-1 victory over Preston last Saturday ended a dismal run of results and the hope is that the win will lift spirits and help the team to kick on.

Stevens said: “As much as Cumbernauld away is a tough game, the big artificial pitch will suit us and that should give us the confidence to take the game to them and hopefully win the game.

That result against Preston averted a mini-crisis which had seen Vale slide towards the bottom of the table. If it hadn’t been reversed then they could have been dragged into a relegation battle with the Panners and Selkirk. Now they will look be looking up and hoping to catch a clutch of teams who are reachable. In contrast, Cumbernauld Colts have lost their last two matches but have generally performed well this season, sitting sixth.

When asked if Saturday’s win can act as a springboard for the rest of the campaign, Stevens added: “Yeah, we have a tough couple of games coming up against Cumbernauld and Spartans so I think we need to stick together and perform well and try to climb up the league to where we were at the start of the season.”

Manager Chris Anderson added: “It was important to get the win last week, our first in eight games.

“We can go up to Cumbernauld with confidence and we’re looking forward to playing on a 3G pitch.”

Striker Keith McLeod comes back into contention after serving a two match suspension, but captain James Elliot is still out with an injury.

Form:

Cumbernauld – WDWLL

Vale – LLLLW

Previous meetings this season:

Vale 1-2 Cumbernauld Colts 27/08/16 Lowland League