Charles: "We're approaching Sunday as a normal game"

Looking forward to Sunday’s clash against Woking live on BT Sport, star midfielder Ashley Charles played down the pressure of being on TV for the midday kick-off.

“Everyone’s excited but we’re going to take it as a normal game, approach it the same way as we always do but try and get three points," said Charles.

The Stones welcome the BT Sport cameras to the Vale for the first time this season, and tickets are available until Friday from just £15 for adults, £10 for concessions, £8 for 18-23 year olds and free for under-16s with an adult.

Stuart Maynard’s side endured a few injuries and suspensions over the Bank Holiday weekend, and Charles was relieved to get some rest under his belt ahead of Sunday’s game.

“The boys are struggling out there," he said. "We’ve got a couple of knocks but we’re all good to go.”

The combative midfielder has enjoyed an excellent start to the season and picked up man of the match against FC Halifax Town, but he once again praised his teammates in helping him shine.

“I didn’t change much over the summer, we’ve got a good group of boys, we’re playing well together, everyone’s playing well and it’s helping everyone really," said the former Watford midfielder.

Charles slotted into centre-back following Lewis Kinsella's red card on Monday and helped the Stones earn a third successive clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against Yeovil Town, despite playing over 80 minutes with a man disadvantage.

“It was so key to get off to a good start, being hard to beat is a key thing, cause if you can’t win, don’t lose. The more we play together, the more we understand each other," he said. "I think we did really well to adapt after the red card, it’s always hard going down to ten but we showed a lot of character.”