'When there's fight, there's hope' - Vale's Brady

Port Vale boss Jon Brady says his relegation-threatened side are showing how "ultra competitive" they are in their bid to stay in League One after securing an important win over Northampton Town.

Vale's 1-0 victory on Tuesday was only the second in the league since former Cobblers' manager Brady took charge in early January.

Jayden Stockley's fine finish deep in first-half stoppage time proved enough for Vale, who denied Northampton a shot on target all night.

In the process they moved three points closer to the three other teams in the drop zone - Rotherham, the Cobblers and Wigan.

"When you're playing the teams in and around you, and you're fighting for survival, you've got to try to get those wins and and I'm just glad we were on the right side of one," Brady told BBC Radio Stoke.

"[For Northampton] not to get a shot on target all night, and the way we defended, was brilliant.

"I would've loved a bit more quality on the ball but to close the game out [like we did], we were really strong."

Along with narrow defeats by AFC Wimbledon and Stevenage, Vale have grabbed draws against Burton Albion and, in the last minute, at home to Reading last weekend.

It leaves them still with the sizeable challenge of closing the 10-point gap to safety but Vale do have at least one game in hand on the teams up to Blackpool in 19th place.

"We're trying to build. In the last six we've been ultra competitive and getting towards where we need to be," Brady said.

"If we can chase the one above, once we can nip them, go to the one after and focus on whether we can chase that.

"Four points over the last two games is really good. You hope it builds belief but the next game will tell.

"The boys are positive and you can see there's fight in them. When there's fight, there's hope."