Port Vale boss Darrell Clarke was delighted with his side’s comfortable 3-1 League Two victory at struggling Carlisle

David Worrall, James Wilson and David Amoo bagged the goals as Vale picked up their first away win for two months – and a first victory at Brunton Park since 2017.

They got off to the perfect start as Worrall scored inside the opening minute.

West Brom loanee Owen Windsor levelled, but Wilson retook the lead ahead of half-time before Amoo scored against his former employers with 10 minutes left.

“I was delighted with that to be honest with you,” admitted Clarke, whose side jumped up a spot to eighth in the League Two table.

“I thought it was a big game for us.

“I know Carlisle are struggling a bit at the minute to find rhythm.

“They made seven changes and signed some new players so it wasn’t always going to be a banana skin for us.

“I thought the lads handled it really well. We were disappointed to concede in the first half, but were pleased to get the third to make it comfortable in the second.

“It was a good team performance all round from us.

“I like adaptability in the course of games and the players took that on board.

“I was really pleased because I feel like we’ve chucked some silly points away with some good performances; Oldham and Sutton away certainly spring to mind.

“I got into the boys at half-time because I was concerned it was going to be the same thing.”

Sorry Carlisle are now just two points clear of the dreaded relegation zone to non-league football after their fourth defeat in a row, after second-bottom Oldham beat Bristol Rovers.

Boss Keith Millen said: “We need time to gel. I know it sounds silly with the position we’re in.

“But we’ve made some good new signings and we need to get them up to speed.

“We need to find some consistency. That’s one of the major things we’ve been lacking.

“It’s tough at the moment, of course it is. But we need to keep working hard.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb conceding so early and we need to try and avoid that.

“We gave goals away at the worst possible times and that’s the most frustrating thing.

“We need to dust ourselves off for the weekend now. We can’t dwell on what’s happened in the past couple of weeks.”