Jack Earing agony after suffering a fresh Walsall knee injury

The injury ruled him out of being involved in the 2-1 win at Stockport and it is not yet known how long the youngster – who turns 23 this month – will be out.

It is the second potentially long-term injury for Earing, who signed for the Saddlers in July 2021. He was out for 12 weeks with an Achilles injury after being injured in the home game against Tranmere in September, making his return just before Christmas. Walsall boss Michael Flynn and penalty hero Andy Williams revealed Earing’s team-mates planned a tribute to him at the Stockport game.

He said: “They had brought his shirt with him and were going to wave it at the away fans if we scored in front of them – I’m not sure what happened with that but they all think a lot of him

“We will know more early in the week when he goes to have a scan but it is a big blow for Jack, he’s just coming back from an injury and for the club.

“We’ve had our fair share of injuries this year, probably a fifth of our budget has been wiped out with them, but at the moment we are all only thinking of Jack and hope it’s not as serious as first thought.”

Williams said he lost Earing’s shirt in the goal celebration, putting paid to the planned tribute but said it hadn’t dampened the feeling of getting into the next round.

He said: “It was great scoring in front of the away fans who have been fantastic all season – it was a great feeling made even better by the draw against a Premier League side in Leicester which is deserved for the fans and everyone at the club. “We weren’t great at Stockport earlier in the season and had to nick a point but that was a big improvement today - a well deserved win in albeit a close game and it has shown how far we have come as a team.

“The Leicester game will be great but we need to kick on before that in the league, we have some very big games coming up but we are buzzing at the moment.”

On the penalty, he admitted experience helped keep him calm before he took it. He said: “The manager says I am cool and calm, some people would call it boring, but with the penalties I don’t have a special technique or formula other than to hit them as hard and accurate as I can – I do practise them in training away from the group so maybe it has paid off.”