Walsall Football Club

Saddlers targeting second Championship scalp...

OVERVIEW:
The Saddlers are hoping to claim their second Championship scalp against in-form Brighton, following an unforgettable 4-3 triumph at Nottingham Forest in round one. The Seagulls edged past Southend in the first round – one of three 1-0 victories for Chris Hughton’s men this season. Both sides are second in their respective leagues, with three wins and a draw from their four league fixtures.

LAST FIVE COMPETITIVE MATCHES: (Most recent match first)
Walsall: WWWWD
Brighton: WDWWW

LAST TIME OUT:
Saturday, 22nd August – Walsall 2-1 Coventry
Goals either side of half-time from Anthony Forde and top-scorer Tom Bradshaw earned Walsall all three points in a pulsating West Midlands derby. Jacob Murphy scored a sensational consolation strike for Coventry.
Team: Etheridge, Demetriou, Taylor, O’Connor, Downing, Chambers ©, Mantom, Bradshaw, Sawyers, Forde (Morris 66’), Lalkovic (Cook 73’). Subs: Baxendale, MacGillivray, Henry, Preston, Flanagan.

Saturday, 22nd August – Brighton 1-0 Blackburn
Kazenga Lua Lua scored the only goal as Brighton maintained their unbeaten start to the Championship season with a hard-fought victory over Blackburn.
Team: Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Hunemeier, Bong, Murphy (March 78’), Stephens, Kayal, Lua Lua, Hemed (O’Grady 88’), Baldock (Ince 84’). Subs not used: Maenpaa, Dunk, Forster-Caskey, Rosenior.

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Walsall wins: 27
Brighton wins: 36
Draws: 20

BRIGHTON MANAGER:
Chris Hughton – The 56-year-old succeeded Sami Hyypia as Brighton boss in December 2014 and guided the Seagulls to Championship safety last season. He won promotion to the Premier League with Newcastle in 2009/10, and guided Birmingham to the Championship play-offs in 2011/12. Hughton also spent two years in charge of Norwich.

BRIGHTON STAR MAN:
Kazenga LuaLua – The former Newcastle man is Brighton’s top scorer this season with three goals in all competitions. Each of his strikes have come in 1-0 wins – against Nottingham Forest, Southend (Cup) and Blackburn. The 24-year-old has played over 100 times for the East Sussex club.

VIEW FROM THE BRIGHTON CAMP:
Chris Hughton (on playing Walsall) – “I’m expecting a very tough game. In the last round of (League Cup) fixtures, about eight Championship teams went out of the competition. That’s an indication of how tough each of these games are. We needed a last-minute winner at Southend to go through to this stage. They’ve got a manager who has done a great job over the years and they play a very exciting brand of football. It’s a tight arena, a good pitch. They’ll want to play and want to do well, so I would expect a difficult game.”

TEAM NEWS:
Walsall: No injury concerns.
Brighton: Bobby Zamora and Andrew Crofts to miss out. Connor Goldson is cup tied.

REFEREE:
Peter Bankes

STAT OF THE DAY:
The Saddlers are bidding to reach the third round of the League Cup for the first time since 2002/03. That season, Walsall overcame Shrewsbury (1-0) and Nottingham Forest (2-1) before bowing out to Blackburn on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

TONIGHT’S CAPITAL ONE CUP FIXTURES: (7.45pm unless stated)
Aston Villa vs. Notts County
Birmingham vs. Gillingham
Burton vs. Middlesbrough
Bury vs. Leicester
Crystal Palace vs. Shrewsbury
Doncaster vs. Ipswich
Fulham vs. Sheff Utd
Hartlepool vs. Bournemouth
Hull vs. Rochdale
Luton vs. Stoke
MK Dons vs. Cardiff
Newcastle vs. Northampton
Peterborough vs. Charlton
Portsmouth vs. Reading
Preston vs. Watford
QPR vs. Carlisle
Rotherham vs. Norwich
Sheff Wed vs. Oxford
Sunderland vs. Exeter
Swansea vs. York
Wolves vs. Barnet
West Brom vs. Port Vale (8.00pm)