Neil Aspin feared he would be sacked if Port Vale lost at Crawley
Posted Sunday, January 20, 2019 by PA
Neil Aspin admitted that he would have feared being sacked had his Port Vale side not have ended their winless run at Crawley.
A first-half goal from Ricky Miller proved enough to give Vale their first league win in eight games to take the pressure off boss Aspin.
The 53-year-old former Leeds and Port Vale defender said before the game that his fate was in the hands of his players, and he was quick to admit afterwards the victory was crucial.
“If the players had had a disastrous day it could have been the end of my time.
“You have to do it consistently. If they can play like this it`ll keep me in my job.”
Aspin admitted previous results have been “terrible” and had stressed to the players beforehand that they needed to be committed.
He added:” I’d be foolish if I was not aware of the situation. We`ve had a terrible run of results and I accept that.
“I treat every game as though it`s my last game, and we had to win today`s match. We worked exceptionally hard.”
Crawley head coach Gabriele Cioffi felt his side had let themselves down by not being ruthless enough against a struggling Vale side.
The Reds have now lost seven of their last 10 league games and Italian Cioffi felt playing three games in a week contributed to their lack of sharpness.
“We created the chances but we need to be ruthless and the ball has to go in.,” Cioffi said.
“Port Vale came for a draw and for 90 minutes they had nine bodies behind the ball.
“But we are creating a lot of chances and when you do that you have to score.”
Cioffi also said that returning home at 4am following their midweek defeat at Mansfield was not ideal preparation.
“It is not an excuse,” he added. “But we have had three games in a week and the sharpness was not as usual.”
Crawley are now six points above the drop zone and Cioffi confessed: “We have to look behind our shoulder.
“We are a club who need to improve the players.”
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