Walsall Head Coach Mat Sadler felt he got exactly what he required from Tuesday’s behind closed doors friendly against West Bromwich Albion Under 21s.
The Saddlers picked up a 2-0 victory thanks to first half goals from Douglas James-Taylor and Freddie Draper.
Sadler felt there were areas to improve following last week’s draw with Rochdale but he was pleased with how the players implemented what they had worked on and was happy with a good day's work against the Baggies.
“It’s exactly what I wanted,” Sadler said.
“We got some good minutes into a few of them, we did some extra work on another training pitch with some of the other ones and we got to see some of our younger ones as well. We got a good 90 minutes into some bodies, scored two good goals with the centre forwards scoring so it was really pleasing and exactly what we wanted.
“I was really impressed with the shape, that was what I wanted to get out of it. We worked on the shape a lot after Friday night because there were a few bits of pieces that I wasn’t happy with and they have taken that all on board and it looked a lot more like how what I want it to look like so I am pleased with that.
“The goals (from James-Taylor and Draper), brilliant, that will get them some good confidence. Not conceding, a clean sheet – brilliant again and 90 minutes into a few of them and a least 45 minutes into the main bulk of the squad so I’m really pleased.”
Aramide Oteh and Ross Tierney, who signed on Monday, both featured while Jackson Smith also got his first taste of action since signing on the dotted line on Friday.
Sadler is pleased with how his squad is coming together in what he feels has been a productive summer window.
“I’d like to think there hasn’t been a major overhaul to what has been seen in the past,” he commented.
“We kept a really good core group of players and then we’ve strategically tried to piece different pieces together so we’re coming towards the end of it. I think we’re becoming a group with a lot of competition for places and that will hopefully egg everybody on to be desperate to be in the team and stay in the team and when they’re not in the team, to get in the team.
“Around all of that we want good people and we’ve got good people and good teammates.”
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