Walsall bounce back with three points...
Winger Anthony Forde believes Walsall’s victory over Shrewsbury was the perfect response to Saturday’s defeat at Bradford.The Saddlers were thrashed 4-0 at Valley Parade but bounced back with a vital 2-1 success against the Shrews, thanks to first-half goals from Kieron Morris and Rico Henry.
“We knew we had to respond after the Bradford result and it was very pleasing to get the win,” said Forde.
“We were very disappointed after Bradford but we started to focus on Shrewsbury straight away because we knew we couldn’t afford to dwell on it.
“The group responded really well. We knew we had to come out of the blocks and I thought our performance was really good.
“There were quite a lot of attacking players on the pitch and we were dangerous going forward throughout the game.
“Defensively the boys did really well and we fought well in the second half as the game was quite end to end.
“They needed to win as well so we knew it was going to be a tough, tough game and the two goals were important in the first half.
“We knew the third goal was going to be important in the game – they got it – but we dug in well to not concede and I thought we deserved to get the three points.”
Walsall’s next match is against relegation-threatened Fleetwood on Monday, two days after second-placed Burton host play-off chasing Gillingham.
And Forde admits he will be keeping one eye on the Brewers’ match.
“Of course, we’ll be looking for Burton result – it’s natural,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll be a good result for us.
“But between now and Fleetwood, we’ll be trying to get a good rest in because we’ve had a lot of Saturday-Tuesday games.
“We’ll look to freshen up and hopefully we’ll get another great result on Monday.”
The Fleetwood fixture will be head coach Jon Whitney’s 11th since being handed the managerial reins.
The 45-year-old has won six and drawn one of his ten matches so far, and Forde has praised his impact.
“He’s brilliant to be around,” Forde added. “He’s so enthusiastic around the training ground and he’s been that way ever since I came in.
“He gives everyone a great lift. With Neil Cutler and Dean Holden as well, it’s a great group we have here.”