Walsall v Accrington Stanley: Who's out and who's a doubt

The Saddles saw their three-match winning streak in League Two come to an end with a 3-1 defeat at league leaders Stockport County last weekend.

However, Mat Sadler's men are unbeaten in five at home in all competitions (one draw), and will be hoping to extend that run with four of their next five fixtures on their own turf.

Sadler welcomed Ryan Stirk back from an ankle injury at Edgeley Park, and there are a number of other players closing in on a return.

Here is a run through of the state of play and availability in the Saddlers squad ahead of the weekend.

Ross Tierney - hamstring (90%)

Sadler revealed in his pre-match press conference that Tierney has trained all week and is expected to be available for selection.

Tierney missed the majority of November with a hamstring injury, before suffering a recurrence of the issue on his return in the comeback victory at Notts County on December 9.

The Walsall boss said: "Ross has trained all week. That's great so he'll come into the selection decisions from there."

Jamille Matt - groin (50%)

The experienced forward remains an injury doubt and will be monitored ahead of the game.

Matt has been out of action with a groin problem since being forced off at half-time in the 3-1 victory over Wrexham between Christmas and New Year.

"Jamille is very close so we're working with him," Sadler confirmed.

Joe Riley - knee (50%)

The full-back is nearing a return and will also be assessed ahead of the game.

Riley has been missing since sustaining a knee injury during Walsall's 1-0 defeat at home to Harrogate Town in November.

"Joe is also very close. We're close with all of them actually," Sadler added.

Aramide Oteh - hamstring (0%)

Oteh will be unavailable with the attacker poised to return at the start of February.

He has been on the side lines since October but completed the final phase of his rehabilitation at St George's Park this week, before returning to training at Walsall for a "mini pre-season".

Sadler revealed: "He has not been training properly yet. He has been at St George’s Park this week, which is the final part of his rehab, and hopefully he comes into the building tomorrow, and has ticked everything off that he needs to whilst there.

“Then he comes in for probably a mini pre-season with us for the next two weeks. He won’t be in contention yet but fingers crossed he has ticked all the markers this week.”

Oisin McEntee - hamstring (0%)

McEntee has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his hamstring.

The Irishman hobbled off in the 2-0 win over Crewe Alexandra on Boxing Day, and was initially expected to miss three months.

However, Sadler did warn that it was "touch and go" if he would feature again this season, and he later confirmed everyone's worst fears prior to the Stockport game last week.