Walsall's Liam Kinsella delighted to be back on the pitch

Kinsella, after being sidelined with a knee injury, made his first start since mid-September as the Saddlers exited the EFL Trophy at Cambridge United on Tuesday night.

It was a deeply frustrating evening on the whole, but Kinsella was able to get more than 80 minutes under his belt.

And now, he hopes to play a big part in getting Matt Taylor's side moving back in the right direction throughout a busy December.

"It was my first start in two-and-a-half months," said Kinsella.

"It's a pleasure to be back as that's all you want to do. You want to play every minute of every game.

"It's been a tough couple of months, but I've kept my head down, tried to get as fit as possible and back on the pitch as quickly as possible.

"It was a frustrating night for us as we dominated, especially in the first half, and had a lot of chances.

"Unfortunately, the ball didn't end up in the back of the net.

"We want to be winning games now. We were pleased with the performance, but not the result.

"In the changing room, we're all frustrated.

"We'll go through it and look forward to Swindon on Saturday."

Next up for Walsall is that FA Cup second-round clash with League Two rivals Swindon at the Banks's Stadium.

Kinsella is looking forward to it and excited over the potential of making it through and securing a landmark tie.

"If we win that, we could get one of the big boys in the third round," he added.

"It's going to be a big game. We obviously know that Swindon are a really good side, but if we can tighten up at the back and put away some of the chances we've been creating, fingers crossed we can win and get a big team."