Left-back Luke Leahy is relishing his first taste of the FA Cup.
The Saddlers’ FA Cup campaign begins this weekend with a first-round trip to League Two Newport – our first meeting against the Exiles in their current guise.
And Leahy, who played in Scotland with Falkirk before signing for Walsall in the summer, can’t wait to experience the world’s oldest cup competition for the first time.
“I’m very excited,” said the 24-year-old. “There are a few of us that haven’t played in it before and it’ll be my first taste of the FA Cup.
“It’ll be special for myself, having grown up watching it, and hopefully I’ll be a part of it.
“With us being in the league above, they’ll want to knock us out. There’s the England – Wales rivalry but we’re just preparing like any other game.
“Hopefully come 7:30 we’ll be through to the next round and that’s all that matters. Getting through to the next round is the most important thing.
“If we can get through and have a nice little cup run, it’d boost everyone – the players, fans and everyone around the whole training ground.”
After beating Doncaster 3-0 in our last away match, the Saddlers slipped to a 1-0 home defeat to Southend last weekend.
Leahy says our lack of consistency has been frustrating but hopes a victory at Newport can kick-start a positive run of form.
“That’s the way we’ve been this season,” he added. “We’ve had one brilliant result and then let ourselves down with a silly result the following week.
“Hopefully we can get a good result Saturday and it’ll set us up nicely heading into the Gillingham game.”