Saddlers Head Coach Matt Taylor is expecting another tough game on the road this weekend as his side make the long trip up the M6 to take on a Carlisle United side which currently sit inside the League Two relegation places.
Heading into the game, Taylor’s side are unbeaten in seven games on the road in all competitions but knows that if his side are to extend that run to eight games then they are going to have to get the basics right to stand any chance of picking up a positive result.
“It’s going to be another tough game,” said Taylor.
“They’re a team that with the players they have aren’t in a position in the league that they probably should be.
“They have had a turn over of a manager and that is never easy at a football club. I am sure he will be trying to get his ideas across.
“They have got some very good footballers but the results just aren’t going for them at the moment but there is no underestimating of them and the threats that they have from us or from the players.
“As I said it’s going to be another tough game, it’s another away game and we now need to do something that we haven’t done this season and that is to try and put two wins together back to back if we’re really going to try and see a turn in our fortunes this season.
“We’re aware that if we are going to continue our unbeaten run away from home on Saturday we have to make sure we do the basics and that is that we need to run, we need to fight and we need to tackle.
“We understand that we’re getting better in the way that we want to move the football and our identity but that is all underpinned by hard work. The players understand that and they’re aware of that.
“They have trained today and they’re making sure that for the game on Saturday they have all the information that they need and the energy along with that and if they do that we have shown away from home that we can be a force but this is a game that I think is going to be an extremely difficult one.
“It’s a fair distance for the fans to travel and to come and watch us and support us and I am sure they will and our job is to put in a performance that is worthy of trying to get a good result.”
Taylor’s side can make it five consecutive away wins in all competitions on Saturday if they can overcome Carlisle and it would be the first time a Walsall team has done that in a single season since the beginning of the 1959/60 campaign.
The Head Coach believes that the good run of form away from home showcases just how confident his team are at the moment and that they are breaking the stigma of it being difficult to travel well.
“What it shows you is that the players are confident away from home and they are confident at home as well,” Taylor continued.
“There has always been this stigma hasn’t there that it is more difficult to win away from home without the backing of your home fans but the players are dispelling that myth at the moment so we must continue to perform in the way that we have done away from home this season or especially in the games recently away from home.
“We are on a run at the moment where the players are feeling confident. They have, and do, understand more of what we’re asking and we are slowly but surely getting better but we are still nowhere near where I feel this group could be.
“It’s a huge game for us on Saturday and if we perform well, we have got an opportunity to win a fifth game in a row away from home but if we don’t perform well then I am sure it will be a difficult afternoon.”