Walsall vs Rotherham: Saddlers aim for revenge mission
Mark Gillespie has revealed Walsall are still reeling from their heavy loss at Rotherham – with the players eager to gain their revenge tomorrow.
The Saddlers were beaten 5-1 at the New York Stadium back in September in a match that saw Paul Warne’s side score four times in the opening 31 minutes.
Now the two teams are set to meet again with the Millers travelling to the West Midlands tomorrow for what is Walsall’s last game of 2017.
And Gillespie said the squad are determined to show what they are capable of following that lacklusture display in South Yorkshire.
“The players still think about that game in Rotherham,” the goalkeeper said.
“As a professional, to be totally out of a game after 20/25 minutes – you are going to remember it.
“They made light work of us up there. It’s fresh in the memory because it was embarrassing.
“Now it’s down to us to show them what we are really capable of.
“They are in and around us in the table so we have no reason to fear them.
“We are at home and we are going to give them a right good go.”
Walsall have won four, drawn six and lost two of their 12 league games at the Banks’s Stadium this season.
And Gillespie wants to make sure the final home match of 2017 is another victory.
“I think a win against Rotherham can really set the tone for 2018,” he continued.
“A win would make it three games unbeaten. We have only lost two league games at home all season.
“We have drawn more than we would have liked. But we aren’t getting turned over.
“Now the target is to turn those draws into wins. I think we are close to making the Banks’s a real fortress.”
Currently 12th in League One, Walsall sit eight points outside the play-offs and seven above the relegation zone.
And having now reached the half-way point, Gillespie accepts the Saddlers season can still go one of three ways.
“We don’t want the season to just peter out and we don’t want to be dragged into a relegation scrap,” the 25-year-old added. “We want to be pushing towards that top six.
“The league is still very tight and we now have two games in three days with Plymouth coming straight after Rotherham.
“I think we’ll know a lot more after those games.
“It is such a tight league and with two wins we can easily jump up three or four places.
“That will put a different spin on the first half of the season.”
