Chris Marsh: Good to see Walsall's players fighting for the cause

I’m no Mike Tyson, but when things kick off, that’s when you know people care.

The tangle between Morgan Ferrier and Luke Leahy was the only place I could start the column this week.

But I think it’s important people understand, a scuffle between two footballers is very different to two people fighting in the street.

In my playing days, it felt like something happened on a daily basis.

I’ve seen people get hit and punches thrown – and that was just from the manager, Chris Nicholl!

And I’ve been on the training ground when things have kicked off big style.

But by the time you have got back into the changing room you’re best mates again.

It did disappoint me that the Ferrier-Leahy incident happened on the pitch.

The training ground and the changing room are where those things should take place.

But I read some comments from Nicky Devlin afterwards and he said it just shows the players care.

And there is no question this current crop of players are doing everything they can to win games and bring the fans some success.

Ferrier grabbed Leahy by the neck, which wasn’t pleasant.

And I’ve seen a lot of comments from fans saying if the striker did that to them they’d never forgive him.

But it all comes down to whether it was a personal or football-related matter.

If someone went for me after I misplaced a pass or made a careless mistake then I would understand it and move on.

It’s about winning football matches and playing games at the end of the day.

If there is a personal problem between Ferrier and Leahy then it will fester.

But I don’t think that was the case. Leahy had a pop at Ferrier because he lost the ball in the build-up to the third goal.

Ferrier was fouled by the way and the referee was atrocious all afternoon.

But he has then let his frustration get the better of him and taken it out on his team-mate.

It was a football matter and because of that Keatesy will have banged their heads together and they will be fine.

That incident grabbed the headlines, but it’s fair to say nothing went for the Saddlers on Saturday.

As mentioned, the performance of the referee and his officials left a lot to be desired.

The standard in League One really is dreadful and doesn’t seem to be getting better.

But you have to say Walsall weren’t at the races.

Doncaster though were clinical, they took all three of their goals from open play really well.

To top it all I read Isaiah Osbourne was withdrawn in the second half with a stomach problem.

It really wasn’t Walsall’s day.

Now though it’s going to be fascinating to see how they react.

In a strange way, we’ve been waiting for this point all season.

The Saddlers were never going to go through an entire league campaign unbeaten.

But it’s the teams that respond well to defeats that end up competing for those play-off positions.

A defeat here and there is fine. But what you can’t do is let it spin out to three and four games.

If you do that, you’ve got no chance of finishing in the top six of the league.

Oxford at the weekend though is far from easy.

They are currently second bottom and have won just one game.

But on paper, they have a squad that looks very good at this level.

And from what I’ve read, they’ve played some good stuff in recent weeks and not got the results they deserved.

I don’t think they ever went into the season believing they would struggle.

So they need to turn things around quickly – because the longer you stay down there, the harder it is to get out.

It means both teams are going into the game with a massive point to prove.

I just hope the players give Keates the response he deserves.

He may have only been in charge six months, but he has completely turned their fortunes – and the fortunes of the club – around.