Walsall maintained their unbeaten start to the Sky Bet League Two season after they battled to a draw against Forest Green Rovers.
Caolan Lavery nodded the Saddlers in front after 14 minutes before Jamille Matt levelled for the hosts in the second half.
Darrell Clarke made nine changes to the team that faced Chelsea Under 21s on Tuesday night while he made four changes to the team that started against Harrogate Town in the league a fortnight ago with Hayden White, George Nurse, Stuart Sinclair and Lavery coming in for Cameron Norman, Alfie Bates, Wes McDonald and Elijah Adebayo.
Forest Green had the majority of the possession in the early exchanges but it was the Saddlers who opened the scoring after 14 minutes when Caolan Lavery headed in George Nurse’s cross to open his account for the new campaign.
The hosts responded well to going behind and tested Liam Roberts on 27 minutes when Aaron Collins rifled in a powerful shot from the edge of the area that Roberts did well to push away.
Forest Green were knocking on the door towards the end of the first half and came close again when Jamille Matt cut inside Zak Jules before he tried to squeeze a shot into the bottom corner but Roberts was equal to it.
The Saddlers saw out the rest of the half to take a lead into the break.
Clarke made a change at half time with Alfie Bates replacing George Nurse. Rovers were still probing early in the second half.
Roberts made an excellent acrobatic save on 58 minutes to tip over Collins’ effort as the hosts continued to push.
Rovers made their pressure count on 61 minutes when Collins skipped into the area, evading Liam Kinsella’s challenge, before sliding it to Matt who finished from close range to level the scores.
Moments before, Clarke brought on McDonald and Adebayo to try and add a bit more fire power.
The Saddlers saw more of the ball in the final 20 minutes but struggled to create any meaningful opportunities.
In the end both sides had to settle for a point and the Saddlers made it five points from their first three league games
Roberts, White, Clarke, Scarr, Jules, Nurse (Bates), Sinclair (McDonald), Kinsella, Holden, Lavery (Adebayo), Gordon
Subs: Rose, Norman, Perry, Osadebe