Walsall goalkeeper Owen Evans believes concentration has been key to his excellent recent form.
The 26-year-old has played a crucial role in an excellent start to September for the Saddlers, making vitals saves late on in victories against Colchester United and Salford City.
Evans is pleased to have helped the team with some important late stops and revealed he’s been working on ensuring he is fully focused for the whole duration of matches to keep the ball out of the net.
“Early on in the season, a few goals were going in late in the game,” Evans explained.
“Obviously, the games were a bit longer and we were still working each other out as professionals but concentration is the most important thing and that’s what I’ve been most pleased about with my performances in regards that I’m making saves late in the game which possibly makes it more important.
“I can make those saves at any time but they have more importance due to the stage of the game but it’s just making sure I’m switched on and always there to help the team out as much as possible.”
Evans, alongside Jackson Smith and Goalkeeper Coach Dan Watson, works hard everyday in training to sharpen up on all aspects of his game.
Concentration is a difficult skill to master but Evans revealed the methods he has used to work on it.
“It’s repetition, the brain is a muscle you can train,” he said.
“I speak to Watto (Dan Watson), who is brilliant, I speak to psychologists, staff members and it’s building up that tolerance and mental toughness. It does come with time and experience but also, you can work on it in training.”
Evans’ attention is now firmly on this weekend’s trip to Swindon Town as Walsall aim to win three successive matches for the first time since December.
The Saddlers stopper insists the team are determined to stretch their winning run and stressed momentum either way can have a big impact.
“We saw it last year where we went on bad runs and had no momentum and went on a really good run where we had great momentum,” he commented.
“It’s important and stringing back-to-back wins puts you in a really good headspace going into the following game and it’s making sure we keep our levels up to where they were and making sure our standards don’t drop and not settle for back-to-back wins, we want three, four or five because that’s what gets you up the table and anything can happen after that.”
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