Walsall Football Club

The goalless draw at Millwall on Wednesday night extended the Saddlers’ unbeaten run to four matches, closing the gap on the play-offs to six points. 

During that run, Whitney’s men have also drawn 3-3 with Bury and recorded emphatic 4-1 and 3-1 home victories over Sheffield United and Bristol Rovers respectively. 

And the boss feels his side are starting to build some momentum. 

“We’re growing in confidence,” Whitney commented. “I think the Sheffield United game was a catalyst moving forward, and if you don’t get belief from a game like that then you never will. 

“To then back it up with a win against Bristol and two really good away performances against two tough sides was really pleasing. 

“It’s all about momentum and mindsets, and our mindsets are in a good place going into Northampton at the weekend.” 

The Cobblers will be hoping to make it back-to-back league wins after beating bottom club Coventry 3-0 in their last outing. 

The victory was just Northampton’s third in 13 league matches and their first under new boss Justin Edinburgh, who replaced Rob Page last month. 

Edinburgh’s men are 16th in League One, six points below the Saddlers, and Whitney has told his players to concentrate simply on their own performance. 

“Northampton will feel they’re in a false position but they’ve brought players in and they’ll be looking to push on,” Whitney added. 

“I thought Rob Page was unfortunate as the club were on an incredible run when he went in there – they were over 30 games unbeaten when they beat us. 

“Justin’s come in now, and although they had a poor result against MK Dons, they got a good win in their last game against Coventry. 

“They’ve got some good players with Anderson and Richards, O’Toole is a handful, Nyatanga at the back has got good experience, so they’re a good unit. 

“We’ll respect them but we’ll concentrate on ourselves. I don’t think it matters who plays against us, if our energy, application and desire is there then we’ll give anybody a game.”