Jimmy Mullen reckons some of his side “stayed in the dressing room” for the second half of their 0-0 draw at Hereford.

The Saddlers were stretched by the struggling Bulls, rarely threatening the host’s goal and were relieved to see Chris Palmer clear Bruno N’Gotty’s close range effort off the line after the break.

The point saw the Saddlers move up to fifth place in League One but Mullen was disappointed with their second half showing.

He said: “I was disappointed with our second half performance. I thought the way we defended against the elements and what they threw at us in the first half, maybe we could have gone out with a bit more penetration and determination to win the game.

“In the first half we set the standards. You sit down at half-time and you say to them, ‘make sure you don’t go out and cross that white line if half of you are still sat in the dressing room.’

“Without being too critical maybe a few were. Defending in the manner we did in the first half we might have thought we had won the game.”

Mullen preferred to look at the positives from a game which lacked spark but extended his side’s unbeaten run to four games.

He said: “I don’t want to be too critical because we have won three on the trot and come away from home and got a clean sheet and a point. At this stage of the season that is a plus.

“Anyone would have taken ten points from 12 and defensively I thought we were superb.”

Michael Ricketts and Jabo Ibehre were contained by the Bulls defence, which was superbly marshalled by on loan Leicester City defender N’Gotty.

Ricketts and N’Gotty were team-mates at Bolton Wanderers and Mullen admitted the Frenchman may have had the edge on the one time England striker.

The Saddlers boss said: “I thought we controlled the game in the first half without causing them too many problems in front of goal. In the second half that was certainly the case again.

“Defensively they were very good and N’Gotty made a big difference for them. We know we were a little short up front. N’Gotty is a quality player and he did a great job for them.

“Hereford are a well organised set up with a good manager and I knew it was going to be a difficult game.”

Mullen will lose keeper Clayton Ince, who is away on international duty with Trinidad and Tobago, for tomorrow’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy trip to Cheltenham and the League One visit of Peterborough on Saturday.

Ince is struggling with a hamstring injury, but the manager doesn’t feel it will keep him out of representing his country if selected.

Mullen added: “He has been complaining about his hamstring for a couple of weeks and he had another problem with it. He goes away with his national team this week and we will see how it goes.

“We have lost him for two games and we knew it was coming. Whether he plays for them I don’t know, but it is a niggle rather than a problem.”