Walsall goalkeeper Owen Evans says it’s important for the team to give a good account of themselves as the Saddlers travel to Wycombe Wanderers in their first FA Cup tie of the season on Saturday afternoon.
Michael Flynn’s side, despite being a division below, will make the trip to Buckinghamshire in high spirits and full of confidence following an impressive month of October in which they won four of their seven League Two fixtures.
Evans, who arrived from Cheltenham Town in the summer, insisted that the club are united in wanting to make this FA Cup campaign one to remember.
“It’s always the aim to advance and progress through the rounds and hopefully get the big Premier League teams,” Evans said.
“Obviously, we’ve got to look forward to tomorrow and make sure we’re ready and prepared for what Wycombe have got to offer and make sure we make a good account of ourselves.”
Only six goals were conceded in the Saddlers’ seven games in October, with Evans keeping two clean sheets in that time. The former Wales Under 21 international spoke about the stability of the defence and the relationship he has developed with his back line, citing this understanding as being vital to such a good defensive record of late.
“We’re starting to really gel and really understand what our games are about and help each other in that way,” he commented.
“I’ve been happy since day one with my defence, I’ve got no complaints and I think the results are starting to prove that now.
“We haven’t really conceded many goals in any one game, I don’t think we’ve been tonked at all, so I think that shows that we’re fairly solid and kicking on nicely.”
Evans continued explaining the initial adjustment period that was needed from when he first joined, along with Walsall’s other summer additions.
“There was always going to be a bad patch,” he emphasised. “You can’t start in the way we did and expect to continue that, but in that patch, we were always working every day to try and improve and look at where we can excel in games and try and make that different and try and gel and click.
“Hopefully now we’ve turned a corner and hopefully we can crack on with the rest of the season.”
The 25-year-old keeper looks to be improving with each passing game and puts a lot of his recent success and form down to the encouraging, positive influence of the club’s goalkeeper coach, Dan Watson, who Evans previously worked with at Cheltenham Town.
“I couldn’t be happier with [Dan Watson], coming into the building in the summer,” Evans expressed, a smile emerging on his face.
“I think he’s quality. I think his passion, his dedication, his attention to detail in the game is top notch and I can only absorb as much as he can give me and hopefully, I can continue to improve like I have been, we don’t settle for any less than improvement week in week out.
“On day one, even though he is coming in with a fresh start and a clean slate, there was still that element of ease, knowing how he works and him knowing how I like to work, so it was really easy just to crack on and really start improving.”
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