Walsall Football Club

The Saddlers are winless in five heading into tonight’s match and are still searching for their first away goal of the campaign. 

And after losing 2-0 at Northampton on Saturday, Whitney wants his team to quickly put that disappointment behind them. 

“It’s nice to have a game so quickly [after Northampton] to try to put things right,” said Whitney. 

“If we can turn this into a result and come away from there with a point, or even better a win, then it will give us some momentum for the weekend. 

“We’ve got some tough games coming up but every game is tough. All we can do is concentrate on ourselves and try to apply our game to the opposition, whether we are home or away. 

“We have to believe in what we are doing. All the players trained fantastically well yesterday – their attitude and work ethic has been great – and they have all done all they can to get in the team. 

“I’ll be picking a team that can hopefully entertain but also be really difficult to beat and create chances.” 

Darrell Clarke’s Rovers secured back-to-back promotions last season but have made a sticky start to this campaign, winning only one of their opening five matches. 

Highly-rated striker Matty Taylor has been in good form, though, netting five goals in eight league and cup outings – including two against Rochdale on Saturday. 

And Whitney knows the 26-year-old, who was named in the 2015/16 PFA League Two Team of the Year, could be a handful. 

“He’s a big plus for them,” Whitney added. “He’s a threat off the shoulder but if we can keep him quiet and apply our game plan then we can hopefully come away with the spoils. 

“It’s about trying to stop their threat and apply ours, limit their spaces and limit the service into Taylor. 

“They’ve had an indifferent start, similar to ourselves, and they will be looking to kick on with a win against us – but we’ve got to do whatever we can to not let that happen.”