Mat Sadler frustrated as Walsall fail in key factor
Mat Sadler believes Walsall didn't adapt to the conditions well enough as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Accrington Stanley.
Walsall conceded in the ninth minute when Tommy Leigh tapped into an empty net after Jackson Smith parried Joe Pritchard's initial effort.
The Saddlers struggled to create a great deal of clear-cut chances, and were sloppy on the ball and with their decision-making at times.
But Freddie Draper dragged Walsall back into the contest from the spot after Donervon Daniels was upended inside the box by Joe Gubbins.
The lead didn't last long, and Pritchard scored the winner in the 57th minute when his cross evaded everyone in the box and nestled into the far corner.
"The conditions are dreadful. They were rubbish for football and I don't think both teams really played any sort of football," Sadler said.
"I just felt like they were on the right end of it today. We didn't quite adapt to the conditions well enough and we have to be better with dealing with that.
"But also in the end it felt like we were just content to play forward too quickly and didn't get our football on the ball enough. When we did do that, we started to get a few opportunities, and started to get a few moments where we created stuff in the wide areas, but they didn't do that enough, which was the frustration."
The Saddlers have conceded eight times during the opening 15 minutes away from home in League Two, which provided Accrington with an early leg-up.
But whilst Sadler recognised that the performance dropped below the standards expected, he insists he won't be getting too bogged down, as he looks to the next game to right the wrong of today's defeat against Crewe on Boxing Day.
"The trend has very much stopped in my opinion in that we have kept a lot of clean sheets recently. We've looked really hard to beat, we've look really hard to beat and we've looked strong defensively," he added.
"We know Priestley's effect on that. So, I am not going to get too drawn up or worried about that. For me, the performance wasn't quite right today for reasons.
"Clearly we could've done better in certain situations but I won't be getting too bogged down by that. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic with the group that we have, but it just wasn't there today."
