The Saddlers beaten by Rochdale...
Sean O’Driscoll bemoaned his side’s below-par performance after Walsall lost 3-0 at home to Rochdale.The Saddlers entered the match top of League One and on a five-game winning streak, but fell behind to Ian Henderson’s third-minute opener.
A second-half brace from Calvin Andrew sealed a deserved Dale victory - ending O’Driscoll’s perfect start as Walsall head coach.
“It was frustrating,” admitted O’Driscoll afterwards.
“We didn’t play well enough and started slowly. But credit to Rochdale, they’d done their homework on us and made it difficult for us to get any rhythm in our play.
“We huffed and puffed but we didn’t really do enough.
“I said to the players afterwards that we’re going to have these kind of games and it’s about whether we can nick a draw or get a win.”
And O’Driscoll has backed his players to respond quickly to the setback.
“People will talk about bouncing back, but we can bounce back on Monday morning,” he added.
“A team doesn’t come this far without having a great deal of resilience.
“They are footballers and the only certainty about football is that there are going to be times when you play poorly and get beat.
“That is just the game and the players are used to it.
“The players will dust themselves down, learn from it and head into the second half of the season with confidence.”
Our next game is a much-anticipated FA Cup third round tie against Dean Smith’s Brentford at Griffin Park this weekend.