Walsall debrief: Set piece struggles, attacking concerns and perspective

Goals from Shaun Rooney and James Bolton stunned the League Two leaders by propelling the hosts into a two-goal lead inside the first 17 minutes.

Here, George Bennett reflects on the key talking points from a disappointing evening in Lancashire. 

Set piece struggles

Walsall simply failed to get to grips with Fleetwood's set piece threat and their inability to do so ultimately proved fatal. 

Mackenzie Hunt swung a delightful free-kick delivery into the penalty area for Rooney to head past Tommy Simkin and repeated the trick from a corner for Bolton to double Fleetwood's advantage. 

With 17 minutes on the clock, Walsall were left with a mountain to climb and it would prove too steep of a deficit to recover from. 

The visitors didn't seem to heed the warning with Fleetwood continuing to pepper Walsall's box with dangerous deliveries from dead ball situations. 

Bolton came close to doubling his tally when his header whistled past the post, just moments after Ryan Graydon had seen his downward header at the back stick loop onto the roof of the net.

Attacking concerns 

Jamille Matt provides Walsall with a focal point which they severely lack when he is not on the pitch. That was the case after he was forced off at Bradford and it was once again the case at Fleetwood. 

The recall of top marksman Nathan Lowe served as a major blow for Walsall earlier this month but the past two defeats have highlighted the important role Matt plays in the functioning of Sadler's team. 

The ball just simply didn't stick with full debutant Ethan Wheatley and Albert Adomah leading the line and there were only minor signs of improvement once Josh Gordon and Danny Johnson took over in the second half. 

To his credit, Josh Gordon provided Walsall with an injection of energy following his introduction but the drop off in terms of attacking output over the past two games does create cause for concern. 

Does Sadler stick or twist?

Walsall may still be the leading goal scorers in the division with a supreme tally of 52 but the lack of creativity has been visible for all to see in the past two games. 

Taylor Allen, usually so reliable both defensively and offensively, has looked out-of-sorts, while Connor Barrett has struggled to replicate his early season form at right wing-back. 

Liam Gordon did at least look to make things happen and came close to doing so on a couple of occasions but Walsall have been unable to penetrate the opposition in the way in which they've managed to so successfully throughout much of the campaign.

Does it call for a change of tactic? That's for Sadler to decide. After all, these players have propelled Walsall into a healthy lead at the summit and it is perhaps only right that they are the ones tasked with reversing what can only be described at this stage as a mini blip. 

Perspective 

If you assess Walsall's past two performances based on face value then clearly the levels have dropped drastically. 

But if you had offered any supporter an 11-point lead after 27 games at the start of the season then they would've likely snapped your hand off. 

Every successful team will experience setbacks, even the very best, and Walsall are no different. 

The challenge for Sadler now is to make sure that it is just a bump in the road rather than a potential sinkhole.