Chesterfield v Walsall: Saddlers looking to bounce back from their nightmare
Mat Sadler insists Walsall will keep striving for success, after their midweek setback, ahead of their trip to newly-promoted Chesterfield tomorrow.
Walsall had a night to forget on Tuesday when they were condemned to a 6-2 defeat by Fleetwood Town at Bescot.
The Saddlers led 2-1 at half-time courtesy of goals from Harry Williams and Jamille Matt, but collapsed after the break to concede six on home soil for the first time in over 20 years.
Prior to that, Walsall had collected six wins from eight games for the first time since 1985, but Sadler wants his team to be remembered for achieving something at the end of the season rather than just starting strongly.
He said: “We don’t want to be remembered as the team that had the start best start for 39 years. We want to be remembered as the team that did something and we keep striving for that. That’s great and we’re really pleased that that’s been the case but we’re desperate to keep working hard.
“We’ll have lots of good days this season and I’m sure of that. We had a really good one last Saturday and a not so good one on Tuesday.
“Now, we’ve got a chance to put that right and to move forward into the next games.”
Despite their midweek defeat, Walsall remain third in the table and just one point off the League Two summit.
They’ve also suffered just three defeats in open play in 14 matches across all competitions and remain the joint-leading scorers in the division with a formidable tally of 17.
Walsall are also just three shy of equalling last season’s total of seven clean sheets in the league after just nine games.
Sadler feels that is a strong sample size to demonstrate Walsall’s consistency but was quick to reiterate the importance of producing a reaction at the SMH Group Stadium.
“We want to be consistent in who we are. If we’re talking nine league games and 14 in total then but for half a football match, we’ve been very consistent in everything we’ve done,” he noted.
“You’ll always concede goals. It’s the nature of football at this level and every level. It’s always about how you then react.
“It’s a game where we want to test ourselves and show what we’re all about. We know we’ll have another really good away following so we want to give them some more good times like we have already this year.”
Defender Oisin McEntee has been involved in full training this week and is fighting to be in contention for the weekend.
The Irishman has been out of action due to a calf injury since hobbling off against Cheltenham Town at the end of August.
Centre-back Priestley Farquharson (thigh) and striker Josh Gordon (hamstring) are both long-term absentees, with Sadler forecasting an early-January return for the pair.
