Walsall Head Coach Matt Taylor sees some similarities between his team and Saturday’s opponents Salford City.
The Saddlers will be looking to end a run of three league matches without a win when they take on the Ammies at the Banks’s Stadium.
Salford are 15th in the league while the Saddlers are 21st. Taylor’s side head into the game on the back of a 2-2 draw against high-flyers Exeter City and a penalty shootout triumph over Northampton Town in the Papa John’s Trophy.
The Saddlers Head Coach expects the players to go into the game full of confidence in what he feels is a battle between two sides who will both feel they’ve underachieved so far this season.
“They’re very similar to us in their league position doesn’t reflect the quality they have in their squad,” Taylor said.
“They have an extremely experienced manager who is fully aware of the expectations at that football club.
“It will be a difficult game because you’ll see two teams that have a clear structure in the way that they play.
“Salford like to pass the ball and move the ball; they’ve got some really explosive players. It’s going to be another really tough game for but where I think we’re fortunate is we’re back at home, the players should 100 per cent feel confident going into the game.
“We’ll have our fans behind us and the pitch will be pristine as it always is so I’m very much looking forward to this game.
“The job now is for us to pick a team that we believe can compete and produce a consistent performance over the 90/95 minutes and if we do that, we’ll win the game and that’s with no disrespect to the opposition, that’s because I have full confidence in the group of players we have here.
“If we have a spell in the game where we make needless errors and we don’t take our opportunities then we’re going to make it difficult for ourselves because Salford are a good team.”
The Saddlers are set to play their third match in seven days tomorrow and having made six changes from the league match at Exeter City against Northampton, players have all had an opportunity to stake a claim to be selected against Gary Bowyer’s team on Saturday.
Taylor now has selection headaches to contend with and is pleased with the competition amongst the squad.
“It shows you the depth in the squad is getting better,” he commented.
“Competitiveness in training every day is becoming better. We’ve used the majority of the fit players we have in those fixtures (against Exeter and Northampton) so that means the players are getting football.
“It’s difficult decisions now to pick the team for Saturday against Salford. I’m happy with the performances in those two games but unhappy with the results, that’s the best way I can sum up those games.”