 During this spell Joe Dale was offloaded to Witton Albion, as Hodgson attempted to fill the gaps in the first team with young reserves.Winning three games on the trot, the Vale put an end to this bad spell, also keeping three clean sheets.Over the Christmas period talk was dominated by 'The Wembley of the North', which had been projected as an 80,000 capacity stadium, now it was planned as a 40,000 capacity ground with room for future expansion.