In-form Liam Kinsella taking nothing for granted at Walsall

But Liam Kinsella knows he has to maintain his impressive form if he is to keep his place in central midfield.

The Republic of Ireland under-21 international started 11 consecutive matches last season as he flirted with a spell at right-back.

Now though he is back in midfield and has started the last 12 games for Dean Keates’ side.

In what has been an inconsistent campaign for the Saddlers, Kinsella has been one of Walsall’s most steady performers over the past few months. But he knows he has to continue to impress with plenty of competition for places in the middle of the park.

“Every time I play I need to show the gaffer what I am made of,” Kinsella said.

“Twelve games is my best run in the team and I’m loving every minute of it.

“It is what you want to do as a footballer, you want to play every game and that is what is happening at the moment.

“But I know if I want to keep my place I have to keep putting in good performances.”

Walsall travel to take on Bolton tomorrow in the third round of the FA Cup.

More than 1,000 Saddlers fans are set to make the trip to Greater Manchester to roar on their team.

But Keates’ men enter the Cup clash on the back of a series of mixed performances.

The Saddlers have put in impressive displays against Peterborough and Luton over the past fortnight.

They also recovered from a dreadful start to push Charlton all the way at The Valley.

But they underperformed massively against both Bradford and Bristol Rovers last month. And Kinsella knows results have to improve.

“We’re a frustrated dressing room.” the 22-year-old continued.

“We matched both Peterborough and Luton. Against Charlton sloppy mistakes have led to us going 2-0 down. It’s killed us.

“We came out second half and we put in a great shift and could have got something out the game.

“It’s just so frustrating that we conceded those two early goals.

“We need to cut out the mistakes.

“It’s frustrating that in all three of those games we’ve come away without winning.

“We are putting in a shift and good performances. So to come away with nothing hurts.

“We need to start turning good performances into results.”

Walsall’s recent run has left them five points off the drop zone in League One. But Kinsella insists the players are only looking up.

“We are not looking down,” he added. “We have got to be positive.

“If you look down you take it onto the pitch. We are looking up and looking forward to Bolton.”