Jon Whitney delighted with his Walsall players
Boss Jon Whitney was full of praise for his players after watching his Walsall side secure a deserved victory over Plymouth.
A debut goal from Daniel Agyei as well as a stunning strike from Erhun Oztumer put the Saddlers into the ascendancy at the Banks’s Stadium.
Plymouth grabbed a late consolation when poor referring saw the visitors win a penalty after Luke Leahy was judged to have pushed Nathan Blissett.
But while Graham Carey emphatically converted the spot-kick, Walsall saw out the game convincingly for a deserved win.
“I felt quite confident right through it,” Whitney said.
“Plymouth are a useful team. They are very well-drilled, they have a threat, they put you under pressure but I don’t think Gilly (Mark Gillespie) had that much to do.
“I thought they were very fortunate with the penalty – I don’t think that was a penalty. I think it was a terrible decision.
“Their threat came from corners, they put it into the final third early.
“But I thought we defended really resolutely throughout.
“Teams are going to put you under pressure and put it forward early but we will deal with that, we can handle the physical side and we have the quality when it’s needed, like with Oztumer for the second goal.
“As a team they deserve it. There is a really good energy about the place.
“We’ve got ourselves into a good position in the top 10 and we can look upwards now and see if we can start to build on this run.”
Whitney was particularly pleased to see Agyei net a debut goal – with the striker joining Zeli Ismail in signing for the Saddlers just hours before the transfer window closed on Thursday.
“The lads who have come in were laughing and joking with the other lads yesterday,” Whitney added.
“But they were very focused.
“I don’t know if Dan expected to start but it was something that I felt in my gut, sometimes on your debut you have that energy and that edge.
“We knew that he would tire and it was always the plan to bring him off because the intensity that we play at, he’s probably not used to that.
“But it was great to bring him off when he’s got his goal.
“From speaking to him, I sensed he was ready to play.”
