Michael Flynn registers kids amid Walsall injuries

The Saddlers face the Dons at Bescot tonight – with a growing injury list that included Donervon Daniels and Tom Knowles by the end of their league defeat at Mansfield.

Flynn has revealed some of his first-team regulars are already playing too much due to the long injury list – which means he has already teed up three youth players for the game. He said: “I have just said I don’t care about Tuesday, it is the last thing on my mind with so many injuries.

“Players are playing too much who are not used to it – and we have to be very, very careful on Tuesday, as a couple are close to getting a muscle injury and that is something we haven’t had yet.

“We have already registered three players for Tuesday – and then some of the boys on fringes because some have played too much.”

And Flynn has stated it is an opportunity for the youths, who haven’t been named, to show what they are made of.

He added: “It is an opportunity for them young players to say look, boss, I am here, I want to be a part of the first team, thank you for the opportunity, I am going to take it, so it is down to them.”

The Dons are experiencing their own problems, not least being in the drop zone in League One with 10 points from 13 games.

Head coach Liam Manning saw his side beaten 4-1 by top-of-the-table Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

And he said after that disappointment: “As a group we have to stick together and we have to use (the disappointment and criticism) to drive us to put things right.

“There is so much to still play for. People will look at league position, understandably, but there are still a huge number of points to play for. We now have to respond on Tuesday and then again next Saturday.”

He added: “Mistakes at key times at the moment are costing us Mistakes happen in every game but we can’t repeat them. We will sit and work with the players, and challenge them to do better.”