Walsall captain Joss Labadie is expecting to come up against a well drilled Stevenage side on Saturday afternoon.
The Saddlers will be looking to pick up their first victory over the New Year on their first away trip of 2022.
Labadie is anticipating a difficult match and while The Boro are currently languishing in 22nd place, he insists there is no room for complacency against a side managed by Paul Tisdale so has called on the team to bring their A-game.
“Stevenage are down towards the bottom of the league but there are no easy games in this league,” Labadie said.
“We need to make sure that we are on our game to take maximum points.
“All the boys are professionals, we have all played football for a number of years now so we know the script and we know not to take any team lightly and if we do that then we will probably come unstuck so we will have to make sure we are on our game.
“They have had a new manager come in and Paul Tisdale has been around the block.
“He has had some good successes in recent years with Exeter and he will have a well drilled team.
“They have got some good players and even though they are down towards the bottom of the table, it’s not going to be an easy game and they’re not going to be pushovers so we are going to have to make sure we apply ourselves in the correct manner to take maximum points from the game which is what we will be aiming to do.”
The Saddlers come into the game buoyed by a last minute equaliser from Conor Wilkinson in last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Newport County.
While the team were pleased to have come from behind to draw, Labadie admitted the squad still felt disappointed not to have won the game and insists there is a determination and belief the team can produce more.
“Nicking the draw, obviously there is mixed emotions,” he admitted.
“We were buzzing to score so late on but at the same time we were frustrated that we couldn’t maybe capitalise and put the game to bed when we should have with the chances that we created.
“There was a little sense of disappointment but that is a good thing because it shows how far we have comes as a team from the start of the season.
“We were disappointed to have only come away with a point against a team who are in the play-offs and that have done really well.
“We want more every game, we always want three points. We believe in ourselves and we know that we are more than good enough to be able to get three points in every game that we play in this league.”