Analysis: Walsall's young guns on a roll and enjoying the ride
Walsall’s young squad continues to blossom as they climbed to sixth with a 3-1 victory over Doncaster Rovers at Bescot.
The current form the Saddlers find themselves in has been unfamiliar territory for some time.
In fact, the last time they won five league matches in a row was under Dean Smith (one game), John Ward (one game) and Sean O’Driscoll (three games) combined in December 2015.
You’d have to go even further back to find the last time a single manager led them to five wins on the spin in the league, which was under Paul Merson between April and May 2005.
Walsall climbed above Barrow, whose game against Crawley was called off, and to within nine points of the automatic promotion places.
Setbacks happen to every team, but what separates successful teams from the rest is their ability to respond to them.
In the last fortnight, Walsall have contended with a number of blows, both on and off the pitch, but have emerged from them in victorious fashion.
They lost Donervon Daniels and Priestley Farquharson to injury in quick succession, but produced a stellar performance against Mansfield Town.
The makeshift back three of Emmanuel Adegboyega, David Okagbue and Taylor Allen, with an average age of just 21, then went on to keep back-to-back clean sheets in wins over Morecambe and Harrogate Town respectively, with 22-year-old Jackson Smith between the sticks.
