Walsall v Rochdale: In-form Saddlers turning Bescot into their fortress

The Saddlers produced their best 45 minutes of the season in their 3-1 victory over Harrogate Town on Tuesday – leading 3-0 at half-time – to rack up their third home win on the spin.

And they would appear well placed to make it four in a row against struggling Rochdale, with defender Donervon Daniels keen to keep riding on that crest of a wave.

“We’ve got a really good travelling away support and at home it’s fantastic,” he said. “We have to use that energy and because we’ve had a few negatives this season, when the positives are here we have to really ride that.

“At home, with these three consecutive wins, we have to turn it into four on Saturday.”

It is the second time since boss Michael Flynn took over in February that Walsall have won three consecutive matches in League Two.

Building on the 1-0 win over Tranmere three days before he joined the club, Flynn led the Saddlers to victories over Hartlepool United, Sutton United and Oldham Athletic as he pulled them away from the relegation zone.

He has repeated that over the past month with triumphs against Northampton Town, AFC Wimbledon and Harrogate – taking his home record to a more-than-respectable nine wins and two draws from 15 league games at the Bescot.

But with injuries hitting hard this season, Flynn cannot help but wonder how much better that record might be – even suggesting the Saddlers could have been in the automatic promotion places as it stands.

“We’ve been decimated with injuries – I say it when we lose or win, and it hits you hard,” he said. “Some of the players you bring in are there to fight for a place, not play week in week out. For example, I couldn’t even rest Owen (Evans) in the cup games. I’ve had to take off Liam Gordon and Jacob Maddox (against Harrogate on Tuesday) because they’re not fully fit and that’s when you start risking muscle injuries.

“At the minute we’re really proud that we haven’t had one muscle injury, they’ve all been freak injuries.

“It is about getting the balance right and not getting carried away or too disappointed. I know we can be a good team, but that run where we didn’t win for nine in the league is disappointing, because if we won the games we should have won we’d be in the top three.

“I still have players playing who are not 100 per cent fit, and that’s what I need to be careful of.”

And Flynn insists, given time, he can get Saddlers into that promotion mix in League Two. “I know how to win football matches, we just need time to keep improving the players and getting back the players that we want,” he said. “Once we have that squad, then it’s going to be a tough squad to beat.”

Flynn will have to decide whether to risk Gordon and Maddox from the start for a second time in five days. Brandon Comley could return after suspension for the latter.