Jon Whitney hails Walsall energy and enthusiasm after sixth straight home win

A second-half Scott Laird goal saw the Saddlers run out convincing winners over Gary Caldwell’s side who are deeply entrenched in a relegation battle in League One.

The result ensured Walsall claimed a sixth successive win at the Banks’s Stadium for the first time in 10 years.

And Whitney was delighted with how his players handled the occasion.

“I set the lads targets before the game - I wrote three things,” the boss said.

“The game was an opportunity to move to 52 points. We could go eighth and we could get the sixth home win on the bounce.

“But to get that they had to show energy and the enthusiasm. And the game had to mean more to us than it did to Chesterfield who are battling to stay in League One.

“If we matched their energy, enthusiasm, passion and their will to win then I knew we would have a chance because I think we are a better footballing team.

“I think we showed that. We earned the right to play and we deserved all three points.”

Walsall dominated the game from off with Whitney pleased to see Laird’s goal come from a corner.

“I didn’t see Chesterfield scoring even when they went route one and put three, four men up top,” he continued.

“I still thought we handled it really well. We thought they would try and limit our options for 70 minutes and then make changes to add energy.

“They did that at Swindon and got the win. But I thought once we got that goal we were comfortable.

“It would have been nice to have got a second. But it’s my favourite score line one-nil.

“Clean sheets are always good. It’s nice to score from a set-piece. It was good to see Scott (Laird) score.

“I think the last two games show what we are as a group. We have got resilience. We are gritty when we need to be.

"We will scrap with them if they want to scrap and we can also play you off the park. That is really pleasing for me.”