2012 got underway with a trip to Bury.
The Saddlers fell behind against The Shakers but levelled matters when Jamie Paterson's sweetly-taken free-kick found its ay into the net.
Sadly, parity lasted for just a couple of minutes as The Shakers hit back with a free-kick of their own that found its way in off the post from former Walsall loanee, Peter Sweeney shortly before half-time and that is how the scoreline stayed despite Dean Smith's side having most of the play in the second half.
A home clash with an in-form AFC Bournemouth followed as The Saddlers put in an excellent first half showing to deservedly go in at the interval two goals to the good with Jon Macken and then skipper, Andy Butler finding the net.
The visitors came out for the second period in determined fashion, but were frustrated by The Saddlers' back-line until eventually finding the breakthrough from the penalty spot.
With time running out, it looked as though we had done enough to claim all three points until a header deep into stoppage time from Bournemouth veteran, Steve Fletcher gave his side a share of the spoils.
It was a special day for our trip to Brentford as James Walker made his 530th appearance for the club and in doing so became Walsall FC's all-time record appearance maker, taking a record that had been held by Colin Harrison for the past 30 years.
To mark the occasion, the players wore Wacka tribute t-shirts for their pre-match warm-up and went on to put in a solid and determined display that yielded a point and a clean sheet for the popular 'keeper.
The Saddlers frustrated the home side for long periods and we had several chances to have won the game, with Simon Moore in the home goal saving well from Jamie Paterson and Jon Macken.
Another road trip followed, this time up to Carlisle United where a sluggish opening ten minutes saw the home side grab the lead following a slip from Andy Butler.
Once we got into our stride, we looked the better team for long periods, with Butler at the heart of everything good that we did. The skipper hit the base of the post during the second half and also had an effort cleared off the line.
The equaliser that we so richly deserved came when Butler was brought down inside the area and Alex Nicholls - on his 200th apppearance for the club - stepped up to coolly convert.
After two solid away points against play-off chasing opposition, we returned to home soil for the visit of Notts County on a cold Tuesday evening.
The game had been put back from the Saturday due to County's involvement in the FA Cup and it was the visitors who drew first blood when Lee Hughes fired them into the lead early on.
The Saddlers failed to get into our stride during the first half as we lost Jon Macken and then James Walker at half-time due to hamstring injuries.
The introduction of new loan arrival, Florent Cuvelier, who was making his League debut, gave us a spark but we couldn't notch an equaliser, although George Bowerman did have the ball in the net but that was ruled out for a foul on the 'keeper by Manny Smith in the build-up.
And so January ended with three draws and two losses...
