Adams' men were four points clear prior to the defeat at Oxford

Port Vale manager Micky Adams believes that some of his players are starting to crack under the pressure of being top of League Two.

A week after their unbeaten away record ended with defeat at Oxford, Vale drew on Saturday at bottom club Hereford to see their lead cut to a point.

"There are certain players in the club who are not handling the pressure of being top," Adams told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I'm bitterly disappointed with what we've done in the last two games."

Having seen his side's performances falter in recent weeks following their run of six straight victory, Vale have now three games without a win, including the 2-2 Johnstone's Paint Trophy draw at Carlisle last Tuesday night.

And Adams now insists that he will freshen things up for next Saturday's visit of struggling Gillingham (16 October, 1500 BST).

"I'll make changes next week," promised Adams. "I can't understand why we're lacking confidence and hiding from the ball when we're top of the league.

"If it was me I would stick my chest out and have that belief we're a good side.

"But we don't seem to have that and, in the last two games our performances have gone backwards.

"When I first got to the club, some of the players who were here and are still here couldn't handle being at the bottom end of the table. Now we're top we're struggling again."

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