Three successive league wins on the bounce have eased Port Vale's relegation fears ahead of the final eight games of the season.

The Valiants have moved up to 18th in Sky Bet League Two and now sit nine points clear of the relegation zone.

They will be keen to mathematically secure their League Two status as quickly as possible, starting with a home fixture against promotion-chasing Exeter City on Good Friday.

Despite bringing in the likes of Will Swan and Mustapha Olagunju in January, Clarke also has a lot of experience to rely on in the likes of Tom Pope, Leon Legge and David Worrall.

Are those three players anywhere near the oldest to have ever featured for Vale, though?

Here, we run down the top 10 oldest players ever to have featured for Port Vale. Can you guess who the oldest is by any chance?

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Kicking us off at number one is a current key member of the first-team, Scott Brown.

Brown helped Wycombe Wanderers win automatic promotion from League Two in 2018 before joining Port Vale on a free transfer the following summer.

The goalkeeper has since established himself as a key player for the Valiants, and is currently their first-choice shot-stopper.

He featured in the 3-1 away win over Crawley at the weekend, where goals from Tom Conlon, Nathan Smith and David Worrall secured a big three points for the Valiants.

He is 35 years and 11 months old.

In at number nine is Ian Brightwell.

Brightwell joined Vale from arch rivals Stoke City back in 2002, and went on to feature over 40 times for the club during his two-year stay at Vale Park.

In 2004, he did actually take caretaker charge of the Valiants following Brian Horton's resignation, but this was for less than 24 hours.

His final appearance for Vale came in a 1-1 draw with Chesterfield in April 2004, aged 36 years and 8 days old.

Pugh remains very much part of things at Vale. He is currently a first-team coach and served as interim boss whilst the club were on a lookout for a John Askey replacement this season.

He joined Vale as a player in 2017 following a spell at Blackpool, and racked up over 50 appearances for the club as a player.

The midfielder, who came through the ranks at Manchester United and went on to have spells with Leeds and Stoke, made his final appearance for Vale in a 2-1 win over Walsall in November 2018.

He was 36 years and 25 days old at the time.

Purse played for some big clubs during his playing career, having spells with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall, Cardiff, West Brom and Birmingham City.

In 2013, he joined Vale after a spell with Plymouth Argyle, and ended up making 17 appearances for the club.

He then secured an interesting move to Finnish side IFK Mariehamn, before having spells in non-league with Chesham, Welling and Staines.

In his final appearance for Vale - a 1-1 away draw with Wycombe Wanderers in April 2013 - he was aged 36 years, 2 months and 13 days.

Horsfield made a name for himself at the likes of Fulham and Birmingham City after getting into the game rather unconventionally.

He joined Vale in 2009 after a brief spell with Lincoln City, and even took assistant caretaker charge during his two years at Vale Park.

He infamously fell out with Jim Gannon on the way to Aldershot which caused controversy, and didn't get along with the manager during his time with the club.

His final appearance for Vale came in February 2010 - a 1-0 away defeat to Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium - and at the time, he was 36 years, 3 months and 5 days old.

Moving past halfway and number five is Antony Kay.

Kay spent two years at Port Vale after a brief spell with Bury at Gigg Lane.

He racked up over 60 first-team appearances for the club and scored five goals, scoring an excellent lobbed effort against Yeovil Town.

He left Vale Park in 2019 and joined Chorley in non-league, and now plays in Wales for Bala Town.

His final appearance came in May 2019, drawing 1-1 with Bury at the age of 36 years, 6 months and 13 days.

Porter came through the ranks at Manchester City but joined Vale as a youngster.

After coming through the youth ranks at Vale, he joined Wigan in 1998 after spending 12 years at the club.

He later returned to Vale in 2004 and made only a handful of appearances for the Valiants.

He did actually take caretaker charge of Vale in 2008, and also had a spell in charge of York City in 2010.

His final appearance came in a 1-0 home defeat to Bristol City in December 2005, and he was 37 years and 3 months old at the time.

Moving onto the top three podium and Lee Hughes is the third oldest player to have featured for Vale.

Hughes made a name for himself at Notts County, scoring 67 goals in 146 appearances for the Magpies, but left Meadow Lane after falling out of favour under Keith Curle.

Hughes subsequently joined Vale in 2013, scoring 10 goals in 18 games to help Vale win promotion from League Two.

He joined then-National League side Forest Green Rovers in 2014.

In his final appearance for Vale - a 2-1 win over Notts in Boxing Day 2013 - he was aged 37 years, 7 months and 4 days.

Missing out on top spot is John Durnin.

Durnin joined Vale from Rhyl in 2001, making over 50 appearances for the club and scoring two league goals.

Durnin - who spent his younger days at Liverpool - ended his career at Accrington Stanley, before hanging up his boots in 2004.

He spent two years at Vale Park and his final appearance came in a 2-0 defeat to Bristol City in May 2003.

At the time, he was 37 years, 8 months and 15 days old.

Port Vale's oldest ever player to feature for the club is Michael Brown.

Brown joined Vale as a player from Leeds United in 2014, before spending three years at Vale Park, racking up well over 50 appearances for the Valiants.

He became manager of Vale on Boxing Day in 2016, yielding only six wins from 34 games before being sacked in September 2017.

His final appearance as a player for Vale came in a 2-0 home defeat to Coventry City in October 2016.

At the time, he was 39 years, 8 months and 6 days old.