CHRIS Birchall says home and away support is making a huge difference to the Port Vale squad as they attempt to establish the club in League One.
The Valiants' average away following was the largest in League Two last season at 891.
Indeed, Vale's travelling support as a proportion of home attendances was the highest in the entire Football League at 15.1 per cent.
That support has certainly continued away from home with more than 1,000 fans following the team at both Oldham and Tranmere in recent weeks.
It's effect was obvious at Prenton Park where Vale dominated the first half, doing everything but score as they attacked the goal behind which their fans were housed.
Birchall said: "It's nice to come out and know you have a lot of travelling fans watching you and making the effort.
"I know Tranmere is only an hour or so away and so not that far, but to see your own fans making a lot of noise and cheering does spur you on.
"Our away support has been phenomenal. Towards the end of our promotion push last season the amount of fans we were taking away was unreal.
"It was at least a couple of thousand, and I think teams in the Championship struggle to do that.
"The players really appreciate that support."
The Valiants are also getting used to playing in front of larger home crowds.
The average home attendance so far is 8,987 – up from 5,727 last season, albeit swelled by large away support from Bradford (1,135), Wolves (4,461) and Coventry (3,184).
Vale have tried to further boost their home support by introducing a "twin ticket" deal to cover tomorrow's Bristol City game and next Saturday's visit of Peterborough United.
Birchall added: "Now we are in League One, a lot of teams are bringing big followings with them.
"The Coventry fans were brilliant here and our supporters have always been great.
"We have been getting bigger crowds since last season so, however we sell the tickets, let's keep on doing it."
Birchall says the atmosphere reminds him of the 2003/04 campaign when the Valiants came mightily close to getting into the League One play-offs, only to be denied on the final day.
The midfielder added: "I remember when I started here 10 years ago we had a great team, with Steve McPhee, Steve Brooker and Billy Paynter up front.
"We had a great atmosphere and made it a fortress, so hopefully we can start that again.
"The nucleus of Vale fans have stuck with us. Now hopefully we can get younger kids coming and growing up supporting the Vale. It's a great atmosphere when we are playing well."
The Valiants are certainly playing well with four wins out of five games in all competitions, so start as slight favourites at home to Bristol City.
That wouldn't have seemed likely at the start of the season, especially as the teams were two divisions apart last term.
However, while Vale have started brightly, Bristol City have yet to win a game, in fact they have gone 19 league games without a win in a run which goes back to March.
However, Birchall reckons Sean O'Driscoll's side are better than their league position of 19th suggests.
He explained: "I don't think it's as bad as it looks with them. They have drawn five of their games this season and are a hard team to beat.
"They are one of the teams that you would have considered to be up there, along with Wolves and Peterborough. But we have to go out and try to win the game, especially at home. They will know the run we are on."
If Birchall keeps his place ahead of Jennison Myrie-Williams, he faces an intriguing battle with Bristol City's 32-year-old former England left-back Nicky Shorey.
Birchall added: "People like that don't lose it over a couple of seasons. I am sure he will be a big threat.
"He's hard to get behind and is one of those full-backs that likes to get forward. He keeps you busy and makes sure you do your defensive work, but we have to go out to try to win the game."