Opposition view: Baffled Clarke apologises to Port Vale fans for 'awful performance' against Cobblers

Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke apologised to supporters for the 'awful performance' his side produced during Saturday's goalless draw with Northampton.

The two teams are fighting for promotion this season but served up a forgettable contest that was almost entirely lacking in incident and goalmouth action.

Whilst counterpart Jon Brady felt satisfied with a hard-fought away point, Clarke was mystified by his side's uncharacteristic display.

"It's an awful performance from us," blasted Clarke. "I thought we were poor throughout most of the game to be honest and there's no papering over that.

"It was unrecognisable from the last four or five games where we have been right at it, but it's up to me to work out why that was.

"I feel like apologising to the supporters for having to pay to watch it. I just didn't think there was any quality whatsoever, we didn't string two or three passes together and it was like chalk and cheese from the other night.

"Me and my staff are already starting to pick the bones out of it. The conditions were difficult but that's no excuse. One or two decisions could have gone our way but it's nowhere near the standards that we set for ourselves.

"I didn't think they really troubled us and we certainly didn't trouble them - we just got nothing going.

"But we didn't lose, we got a clean sheet and now we have to move on and make sure the performance is much better next week."