Port Vale boss disappointed in his sides performance in Peterborough United defeat but refused to use the pitch as an excuse

Clarke’s men came into the match level on points with Posh and matched them for the first half before Posh pulled away in the second thanks to two goals from Ephron Mason-Clark.

Vale were left to rue an excellent early chance for Mal Benning that Will Norris did well to same from close range on debut.

The Vale boss has been heavily linked with the Portsmouth vacancy in the past few days and used his post-match interview to distance himself from the job.

He also refused to blame the pitch for the defeat, despite it cutting up badly during the match, but he did admit it is something that needs to be worked on.

Things rather fell apart for Port Vale after Posh scored their second and Clarke drew loud boos when he substituted David Worrall immediately after the goal. This led to him getting involved heated shouting match with a fan who had criticised the decision with Clarke yelling at him to sit down.

He said: “It is a disappointing performance. It was pretty even in the first half, we started the second half on the front foot and then we gave a sloppy goal away and then were chasing the game and never really got going.”

“It is a good chance but Mal has held his hands up in the changing room. There was no need to do that, he is there in the right place and, on another day, it goes in the back of the net.

“We have to accept it was a disappointing performance but in general it has been really positive with what we have achieved so far. Now it is the hardest part, trying to go that extra bit. I have massive belief in this group that we will keep chipping away and working away to get better.

“We never got going chasing the game but we were trying to move the ball quickly on what is a very difficult pitch. We will have to find a way to win games on it and improve it. It’s frustrating for the players but we have to get on with it.”