Jordy Hiwula: Walsall must adapt to be pitch perfect

Striker Jordy Hiwula accepts Walsall must adapt to survive on Bradford City's notoriously dodgy pitch. more

The state of the playing surface at Valley Parade has received plenty of scrutiny over the past few days after the Bantams beat Premier League Sunderland 2-0.

But complaints over its condition have been frequent for months, with even City boss Phil Parkinson branding it "terrible" and admitting he has had to change his team's playing style in order to cope.

And Hiwula admits it has been noted in the Saddlers dressing room, saying: "I have seen Bradford's pitch and it is bad.

"But we just need to adapt and carry on playing the way we are playing. Hopefully we will come back with the three points."

While Bradford's pitch has made national headlines, the unusually uncertain state of the Saddlers own surface was noted by manager Dean Smith following Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Port Vale.

And Hiwula added: "It is a bit hard because the pitch is cutting up but we just need to keep moving it and not changing the way we play. We just need to keep playing well."

The Saddlers could leapfrog the Bantams in the race for the play-offs with victory on Saturday, though Phil Parkinson's men have two games in hand.

Hiwula, who has scored two goals in three games since joining Dean Smith's team on a month-long loan a fortnight ago, believes there is more than enough quality in the squad to secure a top six finish.

He added: "I think we are good enough, there is not a team in this league we fear.

"We go into every game thinking we are going to win. We need to keep on going, we had a little blip on Saturday losing 1-0.

"Now we need to watch the video, see where we can do better and try to get the three points.

"We have loads of good players in this team. I think we can outplay these teams. We just need to keep on going."

Walsall's reserves returned to action this afternoon in the Final Third Development League when they travel to Shrewsbury Town.