EFL Trophy: Walsall v Fulham U21s - Mat Sadler has serious head on for cup

Walsall produced an inspirational display to draw 1-1 at Birmingham City in their group opener and edged a point ahead of their League One rivals with a 4-3 shoot-out victory.

Meanwhile, Fulham sit top of Group I after beating Shrewsbury Town 2-1 at Croud Meadow thanks to goals from Callum Osmand and Lemar Gordon.

The Saddlers could leapfrog them and climb into top spot with maximum points and Sadler wants to give his team to the best possible chance of progression.

He said: “We will definitely do that (use the squad). There’s people like Stirky (Ryan Stirk) who’s just been rolled out there relentlessly time after time.

“We’re going to try and look after a couple of these lads but it’s most definitely a tournament I want to do well in.

“I played in a final at Wembley in it and it’s a wonderful occasion. You have to get through these rounds to give yourself any hope of progressing. It’s something that we’ll certainly be taking very seriously.

“I went to watch Fulham Under-21s against Shrewsbury a couple of weeks back and they’re an attacking outfit so it should be a good game.”

With Walsall’s strong start in the league coupled with their run to the EFL Cup third round, Sadler is determined to continue the positive momentum building at the club.

“We know that that means a load more games,” he said. “We know we need a squad that’s capable of playing relentlessly on Tuesday and Saturday.

“We’ve got a game against Leicester previously because we’ve done well in the League Cup.

“It’s exactly what we want, we want to be successful in all the games that we play in.”

On the injury front, Sadler confirmed there is a possibly that Brandon Comley could be involved after the midfielder has missed the past two months with a fractured leg.

Donervon Daniels (knee) and Josh Gordon (hamstring) are edging closer to a return but are not expected to be available. Oisin McEntee (calf) and Priestley Farquharson (thigh) are both still absent.