Walsall sweat on fitness of duo at Rochdale

Both players left Saturday's 3-1 win over Preston in League One prematurely with injury concerns.

Chambers was removed at half-time after rolling his ankle before Bradshaw exited on the hour mark, having scored his fourth goal of the campaign, with a tight hamstring.

Manager Dean Smith remains hopeful both will be fit to start tonight's game at Spotland, revealing the Saddlers have had initial fears over the extent of Chambers' injury somewhat allayed.

Smith said: "We were a bit concerned about Adam after the game on Saturday because his ankle had swollen quite badly.

"But he has been for an X-Ray which has confirmed there is no serious damage and the swelling has gone down well, so he stands a chance of making it.

"Tom is feeling a lot better and we think Saturday's problem might have been caused by a bit of fatigue more than anything else."

At the very least, Smith is hopeful the pair will not be spending too much time in what has been a heavily congested Saddlers treatment room so far this season.

On the plus side, the manager now has Ben Purkiss and Jordan Cook (both ankle) stepping up their recovery in training while defender James Chambers (hamstring) is also on the road to recovery.

"Hopefully, if Adam and Tom are fit, it will be the bit of luck we have needed in terms of our injury problems turning around," he added.

Mathieu Manset is waiting in the wings should Bradshaw, who has netted four of the Saddlers six goals in League One this season, be ruled out.

In midfield, should Chambers not be fit, youngsters Billy Clifford and Reece Flanagan could well be paired up.

Smith was impressed with the way both players performed during the second-half of Saturday's game.

He said: "They did very well. They are both young lads who do not have a huge amount of senior games between them.

"I thought Reece Flanagan will get better and better while Billy has probably had some of his best performances for us coming off the bench."