Mark Grew admits Tom Pope loss is a blow for Port Vale

Rotherham signed Pope for a record �150,000 from Crewe in July 2009

Caretaker manager Mark Grew has admitted that the departure of on-loan striker Tom Pope back to parent club Rotherham is a blow for Port Vale.

Pope, 25, has returned to the Millers after almost three months at Vale Park.

"I couldn't foresee Rotherham having a dip in form like they have," Grew told BBC Radio Stoke. "I expected them to still be in the top three.

"I thank Rotherham for letting us have him for as long as we have, but it's a blow, no question about it."

Vale and Rotherham have both slipped outside the play-off places in League Two, having been fixtures in the automatic promotion places for much of the early part of the campaign.

Pope scored three goals in 13 matches after being signed on loan by former Vale boss Jim Gannon at the end of January.

Justin Richards, Sean Rigg and Louis Dodds will all be fighting to replace Pope in the starting line-up for the home game against Southend on Saturday.

"They've all scored for the reserves this week," added Grew. "It gives other players the opportunity to stake a claim."