'Heart-breaking Port Vale need reset' - boss Brady

Port Vale boss Jon Brady replaced Darren Moore in January but could not save them from relegation [Getty Images]

Port Vale boss Jon Brady has described the standard of football from his players this season as "heart-breaking" and said the club "needs a reset" after relegation.

After relegation to League Two was confirmed by defeat to Cardiff last Wednesday, the Valiants went down 2-1 to Plymouth on Saturday.

Vale's 23rd defeat of the season left them second-bottom with two games left.

Brady took over a side who were bottom when he replaced Darren Moore as boss in January, and despite an improvement in results and an FA Cup quarter-final run, Vale were condemned to an immediate return to the fourth tier.

"I don't want to make excuses at the moment, but since we've come in [there have been] an unbelievable amount of challenges that we've had to fight through," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I've stood at the front - I'm not wilting. I'm making sure that they stand strong, I'm still trying to make sure that we deliver standards.

"It's almost heart-breaking at times to see some of that standards delivered, it really is. It's not good enough.

"But we're not at the level and that's a fact, individually and collectively, and what we need to do is make sure we try to get our recruitment above the level we go to."

• Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Port Vale
• Relegation hard to take but Vale will learn - Brady