Boss frustrated with defensive mistakes...
Walsall manager Jon Whitney says his team must stop conceding “simple” goals if they are to climb the League One table.A Matt Taylor header and an Alex Revell penalty condemned the Saddlers to a 2-0 defeat at Northampton on Saturday – our third reverse in four league fixtures.
And Whitney admits Walsall must learn from their mistakes – and quickly – if results are to improve.
“I’m disappointed,” said Whitney after the Northampton defeat. “I thought the game plan worked well for 25 minutes as we were frustrating them and our shape was really good.
“We did a job on Revell, with Adam as the screen, allowing one of our centre halves to come and attack it because that’s a big threat for them, their first ball from goal kicks.
“But then there’s a little lapse in concentration, we put the ball back in the central area which we talked about not doing because they’re set to press, and it’s a goal from nothing.
“It knocked the wind out of our sails a little bit but then we got back into it and if Lairdy had scored on the stroke of half-time, it would have made it a good first-half performance.
“We’ve been kicked in the teeth but we need to learn quickly because we keep giving away simple goals.
“The penalty, when things are like this, they seem to go against you. It’s 50:50 whether it’s a penalty or not but I can see why the referee has given it, but some wouldn’t.
“Northampton do the basics well and once they have got a one-goal lead it’s very difficult to peg them back.
“I didn’t think it was a 2-0 game but it makes Tuesday a big game for us now because we need to get something at Bristol, our game in hand.”