Port Vale assistant manager Geoff Horsfield has refuted claims his side are long-ball merchants. Macclesfield boss Gary Simpson accused Vale of resorting to "hoof-ball" after his side were thumped 3-0 at home by Vale at the weekend.

Horsfield believes Simpson's comments were sour grapes after his side's crushing defeat at Moss Lane.

"We won the battle in the first 20 minutes when we bullied them and then we started to play football and won convincingly," he told The Sentinel.

"Where he's got hoof-ball from, I don't know. He wants to go and have a look at the match DVD. We're a footballing side but sometimes we'll play more direct because you've got to mix it up."