Walsall Head Coach Brian Dutton has called on his players to stand up and be counted in what he expects to be a difficult game against Grimsby Town tomorrow.
The Saddlers play their fourth consecutive away match at Blundell Park and will be looking to improve on Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Southend United.
Dutton insists his players need to show the right mentality against the Mariners in what he believes will be one of the most difficult games of the season.
“This fixture, just like the Southend game and the Barrow game, they are the most difficult fixtures we can play at the moment,” he said.
“The Bolton’s when you don’t need to motivate the players and they enjoy the environment they’re in and the Cambridge fixtures are the easier fixtures for me.
“These guys are hunting but against Southend, Grimsby and Barrow the hunters become the hunted and we’ve got to flip that mentality round and show authority.
“We’ve struggled against the strugglers and it’s purely down to mentality. It’s another fixtures where lads are going to have to stand up and be counted and show that authority, commanding spirit and take the game to Grimsby otherwise you’ll get a bloody nose.”
The Saddlers have found goals hard to come by lately and Dutton is looking for players to step up to the plate and rebuild confidence.
“History tells us that that is the case. Guys who have struggled for form is generally down to confidence and you get confidence from scoring goals but that’s easier said than done.
“For me, they’ve got to prepare right, eat the right foods, drink the right stuff and be out on the training field doing the right training to prepare their body and prepare their mind. That’s all we can do; it comes from within.
“We can’t have coaches molly coddling players all the way through their career, at a certain point the talking has got to stop and one of the guys has got to grab the bull by the horns and I’m looking forward to finding out who has got that within them and wants to become the leader of the team.”
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