Romaine Sawyers aiming to pull up trees

Romaine Sawyers hopes Walsall can open a few eyes tonight.

The Saddlers playmaker accepts they are firm underdogs against Nottingham Forest.

But that is no reason to be fearful – quite the opposite.

"I think it's motivating," says Sawyers. "People will expect us to lose but if you go and win there, then it will open their eyes.

"We seem to perform well against good teams and I think come Tuesday we will do that again.

"Having watched their game against Brighton on Friday night, I think we really have a good chance."

There is no denying the Saddlers have performed admirably against higher-league opposition during Dean Smith's reign, even if they have never quite managed the results to match.

The common theory is while opponents in League One have often found ways to blunt their tactics, teams less familiar afford them the room to play.

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At least, that is what Sawyers is hoping for.

"I think you saw it on Saturday," he said. "Oldham had a gameplan to come and press us, knowing we are a footballing team. They did it well at times but at others we broke through the press and that is when we really looked threatening.

"Forest may not show us as much respect and might think the game will take care of itself.

"That is when we can really express ourselves as a team."

Sawyers is eager to continue where he left off on Saturday after taking less than eight minutes to register his first goal of the campaign.

It was a thumping strike of which his friend Saido Berahino, watching from the stands, would no doubt have been proud.

Having come through the ranks at The Hawthorns, Sawyers' pedigree and potential have never been in question.

It's consistency and more precisely goals his game has been lacking and he knows better than anyone, at the age of 23 and in his third year with the Saddlers, this is a vital campaign. He can't remain a prospect forever.

"It was good to get the ball rolling," he says. "I just have to keep maintaining it with high standards off the pitch and on it."

Sawyers was the Saddlers' brightest attacking outlet against Oldham, after Smith opted to go with a new-look 3-5-2 formation. While there was enough in attack to hint the system could be the way forward, there were enough nervy moments at the back to suggest it is still a work in progress.

Sawyers believes, in time, it will prove its worth.

"I like it (the new system) a lot personally and I think a lot of the other lads are buying into it too," he said. "As the season goes on we will get a lot more used to it."