Vale players must stick together - Gareth Owen

Gareth Owen has missed only one league game for Port Vale this season

Port Vale defender Gareth Owen says that they must stick together to end their recent run of poor performances.

Vale were knocked off top spot in League Two after Saturday's 0-0 draw with Gillingham at Vale Park - their third league game without a win.

"We're all men at the end of the day," Owen told BBC Stoke. "There's no 18-year-old kids wet behind the ears.

"But we'll all stick together because we all believe in the cause and we'll keep working hard," added Owen, 28.

After a week in which manager Micky Adams questioned some of his players' ability to deal with the pressure associated with topping the league, Chesterfield's 2-1 win over Wycombe on Saturday saw Vale fall to second in the table.

But Owen says that the Vale dressing room know exactly what needs to be done if they are to ensure that their recent run remains nothing more than a blip.

We probably exceeded expectations from within the camp and outside as well Port Vale defender Gareth Owen

"We all know what's required," he said. "It's not through lack of effort, I can assure everybody of that. Things just aren't quite dropping for us.

"At the start of the season, people were talking about our home form when we'd only played two games.

"These things happen and we said when we were flying high that we have to keep our feet on the floor.

"It was a fantastic start and we probably exceeded expectations from within the camp and outside as well.

"But there's no substitute for hard work and that's what we've got to keep doing. We win as a team and lose as a team."