Port Vale: Joint interim boss Will Ryder says team must fight to 'change momentum'

Kacper Lopata (number 5) impressed on his debut for Port Vale

Port Vale joint interim boss Will Ryder says the team have to work to change the momentum of the season after dropping into the relegation zone.

Ryder was put in charge with Matt Done and Danny Lloyd following Monday's sacking of Andy Crosby.

But Vale were beaten 1-0 at home by Leyton Orient on Tuesday, leaving them 21st in the League One table.

"We'll commit to it the best we can and fight to try and get some points on the board," Ryder told BBC Radio Stoke.

"It's been an emotional 24 hours for everybody at the football club, the players, the staff that are still here and it's up to us now to try and galvanise (the team), to try and put game plans in place for the players to go out and try to execute (them).

"We've changed certain aspects, we've not had much time to try and do that. I have spoken to the experienced players who have committed to what we talked about, as has everybody in that changing room. Full credit to everyone for getting on with it and being professional."

• Listen to full BBC Stoke interview with Will Ryder

Vale have won only once in nine league games and and their next two are at home to Stevenage and away to Peterborough United - both teams in the play-off places.

"We're going to need the whole squad. When I move back into my role in the academy and the next management team come in, they're going to need everybody pulling together," Ryder said.

"We've got to be gritty, determined, dogged in what we do, we've got to stay unified throughout the whole club. We've got to go back to basics, we've got to grind and work really hard. We've got to try and change the momentum."

'Personal attacks have to stop'

There were chants from some Vale supporters calling for the sacking of director of football David Flitcroft, who was appointed three years ago, but has been criticised over the club's player recruitment.

However, in an open letter published on the club website on Wednesday, chair Carol Shanahan said she "didn't want anyone else to be in this role and still doesn't" and that "personal attacks have to stop".

She added Flitcroft had achieved all the main tasks given to him, to secure the club's EFL status, to win promotion to League One, to "create a player trading model where we bring players in and sell them on for profit later" and to turn their academy from "one of the worst in the country" into a high-performing one.

Shanahan continued: "Since I became chair of Port Vale I have made mistakes. Appointing Dave Flitcroft is not one of them.

"I am a human who is always trying to do her best, to learn from my mistakes, grow as both a person and a leader, and act in the best interests of Port Vale Football Club. Dave Flitcroft lives by that same code and that is why he is this club's director of football.

"He has changed the way Port Vale is viewed within the industry and is a driving force as to why the club has come so far so quickly."

Interviews with potential candidates to replace Crosby are already under way and they "are looking to see if this is the sort of club that they want to join", Shanahan added.