Defender Ritchie Sutton believes that we could challenge for promotion from League Two next term, if we can maintain the form that won us the Blue Square Bet Premier.
The 27-year-old was speaking shortly after putting pen-to-paper on a new deal, which will keep him at One Call Stadium for our first campaign back in the Football League.
He said: “When I came to the club, the aim was to get the club back into the Football League. Now we’re there, I’m not going to leave.
Ritchie Sutton is speaking to Mark Stevenson
“It’s great to be signing again and there were no hesitations [in doing so]. Being back in the Football League is a new challenge and I’m looking forward to it.
“Personally, having played in League Two before, I don’t think there’s a great difference [between that division and the Conference Premier].
“A lot of the teams are quite similar, so if we can carry on our form, we’ve got a good chance of being up there in the top half of League Two.”
Sutton made 11 appearances for Port Vale in League Two during the 2010/11 campaign, in a season which saw The Valiants narrowly miss out on a Play-Off position.
He continued: “I can only comment from when I played at that level, but the main difference was the teams at the top had a bit more quality.
“But a lot of the teams are quite similar and on a level pairing, so it’s whoever is best on the day in most of the games.
“If we can push our fitness levels on, get a settled team with a good team spirit again, we have every chance of doing well next season.
“No matter how old you are, you can always get better in every aspect of the game. You’ve always got to raise the bar, because it’s a total new challenge for us.”
