Mat Sadler remains coy on promotion talk after Walsall extend lead at summit

Taylor Allen opened the scoring in the 28th-minute with his fifth goal of the season in League Two. 

His low effort from just outside the box deflected beyond the reach of Barrow goalkeeper Paul Farman and into the far top corner. 

Walsall collected their third win on the spin in League Two and extended their best unbeaten run in a single season in the league since 2013 to 10 games. 

Port Vale's goalless draw at Bromley opened up a four-point gap at the summit with Walsall also boasting a game in hand over them. 

He said: "Certainly we won't be getting promoted at Christmas. That doesn't happen and I've known that for a long time. 

"I'll keep batting that back because as long as I've been aware, 40 points has never got you promoted. 

"So we've got a lot of work to do, a hell of a lot of work to do. Listen, we've done well to get to where we are now and we've just got to keep working."

Ryan Stirk was forced off just before the hour-mark due to illness while Jamille Matt will also serve a one-match suspension at Harrogate Town next Saturday after collecting his fifth booking of the season.

George Hall was surprisingly left out of the squad as his absence handed Jack Earing only his fourth league start of the season. 

Sadler confirmed that Hall picked up a hamstring injury in training on Friday although he was unable to provide a timeframe. 

He added: "George Hall didn't play today, he picked up an injury yesterday. I don't know what that looks like long-term but it's kept him out of the game today. 

"It's a real shame, it was one of the last things in training that we did and he pulls up so that was gutting for him. We shuffled it around and I thought Jack did well. 

"And we're going to have to do that. Injuries are going to happen, they're part of the game, and we need a squad and we feel like we've got the squad to find ways."