N'Guessan is the real deal

Rob Page praised Dany N'Guessan who assisted one goal and scored the other in a 2-1 win over Sheffield United.

N'Guessan's short deal was this week extended until the end of the season and Page is delighted to secure the much-travelled winger's medium-term future. Page said: "Dany has got real pedigree and it was just a case of building up his fitness to bring out the best in him. "He's a real talent and he's a great lad who takes on board everything you say to him. We are really pleased to have him around the place. "But this result wasn't just about Dany. It was a very good all-round performance from the lads and it needed to be. "Sheffield United are a really good club and they are a well-drilled team. It was a superb effort by our players. "The only disappointing thing was we sat off them a bit at the start of the second-half. But we bounced back again after the equaliser and won the penalty. "Results like this breed confidence and belief." The opening stages were hard-fought and even before Vale took the lead with the first chance of the game in the 16th minute. Mark Marshall's corner was played to the edge of the penalty area where N'Guessan drilled in a low shot, which was cleverly flicked into the net by Ben Williamson. The visitors almost levelled when Vale goalkeeper Chris Neal pulled off a brilliant reaction save after Stefan Scougall's shot had taken a big deflection off Richard Duffy. United were really up against it a minute before the interval when Basham was shown a straight red card for a late and reckless challenge on Michael Brown. But the visitors' 10 men drew level in the 54th minute when Jamie Murphy beat both Adam Yates and Frederic Veseli and passed perfectly for Jamal Campbell-Ryce to fire home. It was nip and tuck after that until Bob Harris scythed down Marshall to concede a 79th-minute penalty, which N'Guessan blasted high into the net. United manager Nigel Clough was upset with the red card and believes his side have been on the wrong end of several refereeing decisions in recent weeks. Clough said: "It shouldn't have been a sending off. It was a coming together with two players sliding in. There was no jumping in. "I was amazed when he (Michael Brown) got up. When you see someone in that much pain it's a shock when he gets up. He did do and he completed the game with no problems. "I think it was the linesman who decided it was a red card, but we've had a few decisions against us lately and we've just got to keep going. "I thought we deserved something out of the game. We played well in patches, created chances and I don't think Vale created much at all. "There were two or three situations in the first half when we should have scored. We got into great positions when we should have been more clinical. "There were some pleasing aspects. Some teams cave in when they are 1-0 down at half-time and down to 10 men, but we certainly didn't do that."