In their first away game of the season, Dean Keates’ side were left frustrated after being held to a draw - despite creating a host of chances.

In what was a very promising first 45 minutes from the Saddlers, with Morgan Ferrier and Jon Guthrie both going close to opening the scoring, it was the home side who would break the deadlock but not until after the break.

The ball dropped to Lee Novak three minutes after the interval, just inside the box, and the striker finished emphatically.

Just after the hour mark and the Saddlers were level through Zeli Ismail from the spot after the winger was fouled on the right of the box.

During the opening exchanges of the game, it was the Saddlers who had been applying all the early pressure.

Centre-back Jon Guthrie hit the post and Morgan Ferrier forced Watson into a smart save to deny the new striker his first goal in a red shirt.

However, Keates’ men were left to rue those missed chances in the first 45 minutes early in the second half.

With the ball bouncing around in the box, it fell to Novak on the edge and the striker struck it with conviction into the bottom right corner.

As the pressure built from the Saddlers, they got their just rewards with 64 minutes on the clock.

After some good work on the right, Ismail was brought down and the referee had no choice but to award a penalty.

The tricky winger stepped up to take the resulting spot kick and fired it into the top corner to make sure the travelling fans went home with at least a point to be happy about.

With the clock ticking down, Walsall could have won it with five minutes to go. Great work on the left from Josh Ginnelly allowed him to get a cross into the back post where Andy Cook was waiting.

The striker rose up above his defender but his header cannoned back off the bar and Ferrier couldn’t convert the rebound.