Blackburn vs Walsall: Saddlers eager to rattle Rovers

The Saddlers travel to Ewood Park to take on a Rovers side unbeaten in their last 17 outings in League One.

Despite currently sitting third in the table, Tony Mowbray’s men are the bookmakers’ favourites to win automatic promotion alongside Wigan.

The former Premier League champions have a wealth of attacking talent at their disposal with Adam Armstrong and Jack Payne joining this month to complement Danny Graham, Bradley Dack and Craig Conway.

But Guthrie says Walsall’s players will rise to the challenge of taking on the divisions heavyweights.

“These are the games you thrive on,” the defender said. “Blackburn have been flying. They are a big club and were expected to do well.

“But we are going into the game with nothing to fear.

“We are underdogs, but that means we have nothing to lose.

“The pressure is on them and we can use that to our advantage.

“It’s a nice ground, a big ground for the league. And we are really looking forward to going there and putting in a performance that will see us come away with some points.”

While Blackburn played out a 1-1 draw with Northampton on Saturday, Walsall enter tonight’s game with fresh legs having enjoyed a break from action over the weekend.

The Saddlers’ last outing saw them slip to a 3-1 loss at Charlton 10 days ago.

But despite the loss, Guthrie believes there were plenty of positives in their performance in London that they can take forward.

“We felt we had some really good chances in that game that we didn’t capitalise on,” he said.

“They then got their goal but we again pushed forward to try and get an equaliser.

“That left us a bit open which allowed them to go on and get a third.

“But there were some encouraging signs to take into Blackburn. We did create good chances.

“I think overall performances have been good in the main.

“But we know we need do need to get more points on the board.”

After dropping points at Charlton, Guthrie conceded the Saddlers have been guilty of not taking their chances too many times this season.

And he says all the players must step up in a bid to add more goals.

“I’ve not helped things – I’ve not scored this season,” the former Crewe man continued.

“We are creating chances and we have a lot of good finishers in the squad – I see that in training every day. But it’s about clicking on a match day.

“Everybody knows they need to chip in to help the strikers out.

“The defenders, the midfielders – we have all got to start chipping in with goals. It’s down to all of us to get more goals.”

Currently sitting just three points above the relegation zone, Guthrie says Walsall are determined to pick up points to ensure they can stop looking over their shoulders.

“We want to be looking up the table,” the ex-Crewe centre-back added.

“No footballer wants to be caught in a relegation scrap.

“It’s down to us players to be better to ensure we aren’t.”