Conor Wilkinson determined to make up for lost Walsall time

Wilkinson has started 14 of the Saddlers’ 29 games in all competitions this season due to hamstring issues.

The summer signing from Leyton Orient, though, displayed his class in Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Newport County with a magical stoppage-time equaliser.

Now, he is keen to impress consistently and says he has learned from the ‘mistakes’ he made in not staying fit.

“It’s tough to take – you come to a club and you want to impress straight away, and I’ve had the same injury three times,” said Wilkinson. “It’s probably down to myself, maybe I’ve not man-managed it.

“I’ve probably done a bit too much or I haven’t done as much as I should have.

“I’ve learned from my mistakes. Last year, I played 42 out of 46, so it’s quite tough to come to a new place, as like I say you want to impress, and I haven’t played half the amount of games I should have this season.

“Obviously, I want to stay fit. It’s not been enjoyable mentally and physically because I came here with an objective, and that was to stay fit and score as many goals as possible.

“It hasn’t gone that way, but we are in a new year now.

“I’m going to try to keep myself as fit as possible and obviously try to keep hitting the net.”

Wilkinson, now on four League Two goals for the Saddlers, is out to help Matt Taylor’s side grab more victories – starting on Saturday at Stevenage

They are yet to achieve back-to-back league triumphs, and the 26-year-old said: “The gaffer has toughened us – for a reason and a purpose.

“I felt like we deserved more out of the game (against Newport) because we had some good chances, and on another day you probably get two or three penalties and it goes in your favour.

“We left it late but it’s better than not at all, a point is better than none.

“It’s a point in the right direction, so hopefully we go to Stevenage and get the three.

“We are going to be working our socks off and learning from our mistakes, rightly so because we probably throw away too many points.

“If we turn those points into three points we will be flying up the table and be where we want to be.”

If Walsall can become more consistent and turn more of their draws into wins, the play-offs are not that far away.

They currently sit 13th in the table – six points off seventh-placed Newport – and Wilkinson added: “That is what separates the men from the boys.

“It’s not a big distance, is it? It’s quite tight.

“So, I feel like if we can turn the points into three points, we can be more than good.”