Walsall Assistant and Development Coach Brian Dutton felt the Saddlers lacked ‘killer instinct’ against Chelsea Under 21s in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.
Wes McDonald’s strike gave Walsall the lead but despite having numerous chances, Chelsea hit back through Dynel Simeu as the game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Chelsea took home the bonus point by winning the penalty shootout to leave the Saddlers frustrated.
While Dutton was pleased with the defensive display, he was disappointed with the result and felt the team needed more cutting edge having been on the front foot for the majority of the game.
“It’s not the result we wanted but in terms of performance I thought we were very good defensively.
“Out of possession we managed to contain Chelsea and counter at various opportunities in the match to look to score.
“A good night’s work defensively but offensively we just want that killer instinct in the team, which will come in time, but it wasn’t there tonight.
“Chelsea are a good side; they have good players of the top calibre.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game. We watched the game against Oxford and they’re a top team.
“We knew we were in for a tough night but I thought we were on the front foot and the better team overall.
“In terms of taking the game to Chelsea, the lads can be proud of getting on the front foot.”
The Saddlers have three points from their first two EFL Trophy group games and will take on Oxford United on Tuesday 10th November in our final group match.
Attention now turns to Saturday’s trip to Forest Green Rovers in Sky Bet League Two.
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