Tom Pope on Port Vale: Why I'm glad to be reunited with Rob Lainton and Joe Davis

You see, I told you there were signings on the way! Our transfer activity really did swing into action this week, and I will be pleased to saying hello to a couple of familiar faces when we report back for pre-season training on Thursday.

I played with Joe Davis at Vale of course, but also know our new keeper Rob Lainton, having been with him at Bury for the last couple of years.

Fans will look at his recent record and see he has not played that many games, but he's had a couple of injuries he couldn't get to the bottom of. He had an operation and over the last couple of years the injuries held him back a bit.

But don't be fooled by that, because Rob is a good keeper.

When we went 20 games without a win at Bury last season Rob came back into the side and did really well. But he then got injured and lost his place to Joe Murphy who was superb. So Rob lost his place through no fault of his own and couldn't get back into the side.

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It was the same situation we had at Vale a couple of years ago when, despite being a very good keeper, Chris Neal couldn't dislodge Jak Alnwick because he was playing so well.

Port Vale keeper Rob Lainton

As a person, Rob is a great lad. I am sure the fans will warm to him, not just because of the character he is, but because he is a damn good keeper. His shot-stopping is second-to-none and he kicks the ball an absolute mile.

The goalkeeping position is so important to any team – that's why Alex Ferguson used to reckon Peter Schmeichel was worth about 15 points a season to Manchester United.

Let's face it, goalkeeper is the position where 99 per cent of the time, if they make a mistake, you concede a goal.

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It really helps the team when you see your keeper making saves behind you, just as if you get one that costs you or is down on confidence then you are in trouble. From my time at Bury I honestly can't remember Rob really costing us at all.

The last time we were in League Two we were lucky to have an excellent keeper in Chris Neal. He was superb for us in getting promotion in 2012/13 and again in establishing ourselves back in League One. I know fans could see what a good keeper he is, after all he won plenty of awards during his time here.

But having played with Rob I honestly think he is up there with Chris. It's always difficult to compare of course. They are both good shot-stoppers, Chris is probably a bit more vocal than Rob, but I reckon Rob's kicking is better.

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As for Joe Davis, I see that as another good signing. Joe was a good prospect in his first spell with us, having come through the youth side. But we have to remember that he was only 17 when he made his debut, and then still only 18 when he first got a run of games in the side.

At that age of course he was going to make mistakes. Sometimes fans can jump on that and then it becomes difficult for a young lad. But he's had three years away, got some football at Fleetwood and he will come back a better player for that experience.

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Technically he has always been very sound, he is good on the ball and calm in possession. Sometimes the technically better players will take risks. But if fans want to see decent football, not just us booting it up the pitch, then you want players like Joe in the side.

I still think Michael Brown will be looking for an experienced head in there too. You need strength in depth and so I am sure we are not going to go into the season with Joe and Nathan Smith as our only senior central defenders. I would think the manager will be looking to add some experience there, whether that be Andre Bikey, who we know he would like to stay, or someone else.

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