Port Vale v Harrogate Town: Sulphurites must continue to build on fast start, says Connor Hall

The Sulphurites head to Port Vale on Saturday looking to reclaim pole position after Forest Green Rovers edged back ahead of them at the summit courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Northampton.

And Town, who are unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions this term and hold a game in hand on all of their fellow high-flyers, already have a taste for life at the top end of the division and want to “continue to challenge”, according to their 28-year-old centre-half.

“If you’d told us during pre-season that we’d be second in the league with a game in hand after six matches we’d have been saying ‘you’re kidding, it’s not gonna happen’,” Hall revealed.

“Obviously you want to start well, I think you have to be aiming for promotion, but to have started like this, I don’t think any of us expected it.

“You look at our fixtures and some of the teams we’ve played. You don’t expect to go to a place like Leyton Orient and come away with three points. But we’ve beaten them and done the same at Mansfield. We’ve got results against some really good sides.

“So, credit to all the lads and the management team. We’re so pleased but now it’s about building on these first six games.

“We’ve put ourselves in a really good position and we have to make sure that we keep performing and keep picking up results so that we can continue to challenge.”

As well as Town have begun the season, they have not been watertight at the back, something that Hall is keen to address.

As a defender, you’re desperate for clean-sheets,” he added.

"We haven’t kept enough and we know we need to do better. It’s now about working on it on the training ground and improving.

“Look at the two goals we conceded against Newport in the last game. We can’t allow players to be free in the middle of our box, it just can’t happen.

"As a team, as a defensive unit, we have prevent this happening. We have to be better. There is definitely room for improvement.”