Walsall have put Bradford to bed, says Dean Keates
Boss Dean Keates says Walsall have reflected, analysed and moved on from their dreadful display at Bradford.
A second-half capitulation saw the Saddlers crash to a 4-0 loss at Valley Parade last weekend.
Speaking afterwards, Keates warned his players performances like that will not be tolerated.
But while the boss had more strong words for his players when they analysed the game, he also reminded them of the positives in a week that had seen them beat Coventry and Sunderland.
“As I said, that kind of performance we won’t tolerate,” Keates said.
“We’ve looked back at Bradford – we’ve pulled that game apart more than any other game to get to the bottom of what happened.
“There’s not been a witch-hunt but players have to know when they make mistakes.
“We talked individually and collectively as a group and we went through it.
“But on the other side you can’t just push the negatives.
“As a whole, it was an okay week for us. Against Coventry we showed great character. We then went up to Sunderland and put on an all-round performance.
“We can’t let one bad half out of six affect everything.
“And if we win two out of three games for the rest of the season, I think everyone will finish the season happy.”
Keates said he will do everything in his power to make sure Walsall fans don’t see a repeat of the second half showing in Yorkshire.
“We are at the half-way point of the season and it’s not happened before so it was a big shock to us,” he continued.
“But it has happened.
“It’s something we don’t envisage and expect to happen again.
“You never know what is going to happen in football because there are that many variables.
“But we will do our damned best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“We have watched it, we have pulled it apart. We have had a conversation with all the lads and we have had to take it on the chin.
“The goals we conceded, there were a lot – a lot – of individual errors.
“It wasn’t just one individual error. It was four or five.
“But there were some good phases of play in the first-half. We created some good chances. We should have gone it at half-time a minimum of 2-1 up.”
