Brian Dutton delighted with 'battling' Walsall performance
Brian Dutton was ‘delighted’ with Walsall’s battling performance as they ended their losing streak to take a point at Exeter City.
In what was a game lacking quality going forward throughout, both teams had to deal with a difficult playing surface on a cold evening in the southwest.
The Saddlers failed to register a shot on target but did earn their first clean sheet since November 3.
When asked about the game not being one for the purists, Dutton said: “It was one for the realists, wasn’t it.
“Definitely not one you’d want to pay money for if you want to see free-flowing attacking football, but if you want to pay your £10 on iFollow to see real men going out on the pitch and rolling their sleeves up and giving everything for the badge - we had that in abundance.
“I’m delighted that we’ve come away with a hard-earned point.”
A run of 21 games without a clean sheet was ended by a Walsall defence that stood firm throughout and Dutton insists that is a positive building block for the squad.
“That is what we’ve got to work towards, getting that solid foundation that allows us to build on in games,” Dutton added.
“It’s no good conceding soft goals in games and going 1-0 down or 2-0 down, it gives you such a mountain to climb.
“We’re definitely not free-flowing in terms of being able to score goals at will at the minute, so it makes perfect sense to organise the defence and the defensive aspect of the game.”
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