Croasdale aiming to prove himself in third tier

Ryan Croasdale made 55 appearances in all competitions for Port Vale last season, scoring four times

Port Vale midfielder Ryan Croasdale is aiming to prove a few doubters wrong as he prepares to play in League One for the first time.

The 30-year-old appeared in all but one league match in the Valiants' promotion-winning campaign last season, including 39 starts.

Croasdale had helped Stockport County up to the third tier in the previous campaign, but was then released after 180 appearances in four seasons.

"For me to have this opportunity now, I want to kick on and prove people wrong," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I think whichever player you are, you're always trying to prove a manager or pundit, whoever had a bad word to say about you, you're trying to prove them wrong, so I'm looking forward to it.

"There has always been that little bit of doubt, but even when I was at Stockport when they brought good players in and good midfielders in, I've always kept my shirt and I want to try and do that here."

Croasdale joined Preston as a trainee in 2013 and moved to Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer the following season.

But he did not make an appearance for Wednesday and had to wait until the age of 27 to make his English Football League debut with the Hatters.

"Up until Stockport I'd never played in the Football League, and then my first year we got to the play-off final, the second year we got promoted and then I came here and got promoted from League Two," he said.

"So I'm looking forward to kicking on again and hopefully I'll take it in my stride."