Burton Albion v Walsall preview

But defender Jon Guthrie knows he – and his Saddlers team-mates – have to maintain those standards if they are to stay in League One.

Dean Keates’ side defied all the odds last weekend when they secured a 3-2 victory over the Bantams despite seeing Andy Cook sent off after just six minutes.

The win was achieved thanks to hard work and a real desire to defend, with Guthrie in particular making two outstanding goal-line blocks.

Now the 26-year-old is set to be part of the side that travels to take on Burton tomorrow.

But with the team currently sat 19th in League One, just four points above the drop zone, Guthrie says Walsall now need to reproduce their display against Bradford week after week.

“Bradford has to be the standard from now on – it has to galvanise us as a team,” the centre-back said.

“We have to build on it and use it as a platform.

“It has not been an easy few months. We have struggled for results and even when we were playing okay we were still losing games.

“But we showed against Bradford what we are capable of.

“It was a performance similar to the ones we went on at the start of the season when we went on that unbeaten run.

“We got that win, we stopped a poor run of results. But we know we have to build on it.

“We are fully aware of the position we are in. We are not kidding ourselves.

“We know we have to pick up more wins and sooner rather than later.”

Prior to the loss at Coventry a fortnight ago, Guthrie had started every league game for Walsall this season.

But he found himself on the bench for the trip to the Ricoh Arena.

And while he was disappointed to be left out, he understood Keates’ decision.

“Nobody wants to come out the team,” Guthrie continued.

“But if I’m being honest, my form had probably dipped so I couldn’t have too many complaints.

“It gave me a chance to recharge my batteries, I worked hard in training and luckily I was back in for Bradford and hopefully I repaid the gaffer with the performance.”

While Guthrie was one the heroes in defence last weekend, Josh Gordon got the plaudits up front for his two-goal haul.

And Guthrie was delighted for his team-mate.

“Josh really stepped up,” the defender added.

“He always works really hard. But to get the two goals, I was really pleased for him.

“He is a good player and has worked hard for that.”

The Opposition - Burton

It’s been a season where supporters of Burton Albion have often been left scratching their heads.

At times, Nigel Clough’s side have been sensational, no more so than at the Banks’s Stadium back in November when they ran out convincing 3-1 winners.

On that day, Walsall could not live with their rotation and how they moved the ball. But while they have threatened performances like that on a number of occasions this season, a lack of cutting edge has often let them down.

There is no doubt the Brewers initially found it hard adapting to life back in League One after being relegated from the Championship last year.

They conceded a number of sloppy goals in the opening months of the campaign, largely by being caught on the counter-attack.

And centre-back Jake Buxton publicly said they needed to rediscover how to get back to ‘no-nonsense’ defending.

But while they are still trying to find that perfect balance, Clough’s side have tightened up.

Prior to last weekend’s loss to Fleetwood, Burton were on a six-game unbeaten run.

But that defeat to the Cod Army makes tomorrow’s match even more interesting.

Burton tend to start games well at home. But they are now without a victory at the Pirelli Stadium since Boxing Day.

And Clough believes they will take on a very different Walsall side following their win over Bradford.

He is also concerned his team’s impressive performance against the Saddlers earlier in the campaign could come back to haunt him.

“I think the Bradford game will change their season, especially in the circumstances, when they had somebody sent off after five minutes,” he said.

“They played a long, long time with 10 men, and they end up getting a 3-2 victory.

“They were getting dragged into it a little bit and then that victory keeps their heads above water.

“The biggest fear on Saturday is what we did to them at their place because we played extremely well, went 3-0 ahead and deservedly so, with one of our best away performances of the season, if not the best, in the first half.

“If I was a Walsall player or manager, I’d be saying, ‘They are not doing that to us again, let’s make sure we put it right this time’.”