Walsall's Luke Leahy hopes to be fit to face Gillingham

The 24-year-old left-back picked up the knock in the Checkatrade Trophy win at Shrewsbury Town last week – after a red card challenge from Salop’s Ben Godfrey – and limped off late on.

“I’ve been in every day since I took that knock against Shrewsbury,” said Leahy, who has made 21 appearances for the Saddlers this season.

“I’ve been training every day to get fit for the weekend.

“I haven’t trained (with the rest of the squad) yet but I’ve done a bit of running and had no problems, so hopefully I’ll get involved with the lads again and be in contention for Saturday.

“The knee is just badly swollen – it’s gone down slightly but there’s still some fluid around there.”

Walsall go into the Gillingham game having not won in League One at the Banks’s Stadium since September 2, when they beat Plymouth Argyle 2-1.

The Saddlers are 17th going into the encounter, the Gills – who are yet to appoint a new permanent boss after sacking Ady Pennock in late September – 22nd.

On Saturday’s clash, Leahy added: “It’s been a tough couple of days for the boys (training) but I’m sure now it will slow down.

“With the Shrewsbury result, it was a Checkatrade Trophy game but it was played like a League One match.

“There were plenty of physical challenges going in and we went into that game knowing that we had to win after Newport, and in winning 1-0 we can take a lot of confidence going forward.

“We’ve got two home games now against Gillingham on Saturday, then Fleetwood on Tuesday.

“The Southend game has been and gone and we’re confident that we can beat anybody at home.

“Gillingham is a massive game and we’ve got a game in hand on some of the teams above us too.

“A few good results in this league can shoot you straight up the table because the middle of the table is so tight and close.”