Leitch-Smith told to 'embrace fantastic form' by Vale boss Page
ByPA Sport
Published 25/11/2015 at 00:12 GMT
Port Vale manager Rob Page claimed he knew Ajay Leitch-Smith would come good after his fifth goal in four games in a 2-0 home win against Blackpool sealed a fourth straight league victory for his side.
Ajay Leitch Smith, right, has hit a rich vein of form
Image credit: PA Sport
Port Vale manager Rob Page claimed he knew Ajay Leitch-Smith would come good after his fifth goal in four games in a 2-0 home win against Blackpool sealed a fourth straight league victory for his side.
The former Crewe and Yeovil striker initially struggled to hold down a place in Page's starting line-up, but his hot run of form has made him an automatic choice.
Leitch-Smith broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute, making no mistake with a crisp left-foot finish from 12 yards and s ubstitute Chris Birchall made the points safe four minutes later with a neat close-range finish.
The Vale boss said: "Ajay is in fantastic form. I always knew he had goals in him and it was all about getting a run of games under his belt before he came good.
"We saw his qualities in pre-season and he's now producing where it matters most. He's in a rich vein of form and he's got to enjoy it and embrace it."
Page was also "very proud" of all of his players after a third victory in five days, following up last Thursday's FA Cup replay win at Maidenhead United and Saturday's league triumph over Chesterfield.
He said: "The lads showed enormous character to keep going as they did and then win it late on. When I went onto the pitch at the end of the game to applaud the fans my feet sank in the mud. It was really heavy out there.
"Everyone can see what a great spirit there is in the group and I'm very proud of them all."
Blackpool created the better chances in the first-half despite the fact Vale bossed most of the possession.
Bright Osayi-Samuel forced a fine save from Jak Alnwick and then saw his follow up header blocked on the line by Ryan McGivern.
David Norris then went close on the stroke of half-time when his shot from a tight angle was saved at full stretch on the line by Alnwick.
Blackpool also went on the front foot after the interval and Alnwick made another terrific save to keep out Tom Aldred's header from James McAlister's corner.
But Vale defended well and then gained the upper hand in the latter stages with Carl Dickinson and Michael O'Connor going close before Leitch-Smith's opener.
Blackpool manager Neil McDonald said: "I'm not sure how we managed to lose that game.
"It's the best we've played for a long time but we've come away with nothing again.
"We created chance after chance and should have been 3-0 up before half-time. We played very well both going forward and defending for the most part. We must have run over a few black cats.
"The referee also missed two blatant fouls on our players in the penalty area before the first goal.
"He should have seen at least one of them but failed to do so. We've then tried to chase the game and got done with a second goal.
"We have practised our finishing every day since I arrived at the club on June 28. We can't keep missing chances like that.
"We feel dejected and sorry for ourselves as anyone would after seven straight defeats, but everyone is trying very hard.
"We are all giving everything we've got but recognise it's all about results."
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