Sutton United v Walsall: Level-headed Stephen Ward looks up the table with Saddlers

Tomorrow’s match at Sutton United will be his 461st in English football and at the age of 36 he is the oldest member of the Saddlers squad by nearly five years.

So it should come as no surprise nearly a week on from the frustration of last Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Barrow, the Republic of Ireland international is determined to focus on the bigger picture.

Josh Gordon’s last-gasp equaliser for the visitors might have prevented Walsall moving a further place up the League Two table but over the past month progress has generally been positive for Matt Taylor’s team, who have pulled away from the bottom two and now find themselves firmly in the middle of the pack, their sights very much set upward.

“When you concede so late it is a real kick in the teeth,” said Ward. “But we are a big enough squad to know that can happen.

“We have to put it into perspective of where we are. We are six unbeaten in all competitions. There is a real sense of us having turned the corner from the early season.”

Nearly 15 years on from when he first headed over from Bohemians to join Wolves, then in the Championship, there isn’t much Ward hasn’t experienced.

He explained: “When you have seen all sides of the game, being in relegation battles, play-off battles or promotion battles, you realise the league runs in so many different areas.

“It is a marathon not a sprint. You have to take everything into perspective and context. These leagues aren’t over after 14 games. There are always going to be periods when things go against you.

“It is a long process and a long season but at the minute we are on an upward curve and we need to keep going.”

After taking just nine points from their first 10 League Two matches, the Saddlers have taken eight from the last four and are unbeaten in six matches in all competitions.

Yet their first-ever competitive meeting with Sutton promises to be tricky. The hosts, promoted as champions from the National League Premier last season, have won seven of their last 10 in the league and sit sixth in the table, albeit only six points ahead of their visitors. Little wonder Taylor believes tomorrow will provide a marker for his team.

“We’ve done our homework on them,” said Ward. “Like a lot of teams coming up they have ridden that wave of promotion and taken it into the start of the season.

“We will respect them but it is about us getting to the level of performance we know we can.

“We have been looking up since day one. Our aim is to get in the play-offs but you can only get in those come May 7.

“We have faith we can challenge at that top end of the table and believe once we get up there we can stay there.”