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Anthony Forde hails Jon Whitney's impact

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Winger Anthony Forde has praised the role boss Jon Whitney has played in Walsall's push for automatic promotion.

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With two games of the season still to play, the Saddlers have secured a place in the League One play-offs and are now intent on chasing down second-placed Burton Albion.

That success has been achieved despite a series of managerial changes with Dean Smith leaving to join Brentford and his replacement Sean O'Driscoll sacked in March.

Whitney has been placed in charge following both departures and is now masterminding Walsall's route to the Championship along with coaches Dean Holden and Neil Cutler.

And Forde believes the interim boss, who is known for his upbeat and passionate personality, really helped the team return to winning ways against Shrewsbury after they had lost at Bradford just three days earlier.

"After the game against Bradford we knew we had to respond," the Irishman said. "We had a good chat about everything and the group reacted really well.

"We've been together all season and know you can never dwell on a defeat, you have to think positive.

"And when you need to be positive, Jon is brilliant to be around.

"He's so enthusiastic around the training ground, he always has been since I've been here.

"It gives everyone a great lift and with Deano and Cuts as well, it's a good group.

"The Shrewsbury result was credit to the staff. As players we want to succeed for them, hopefully we will succeed."

Walsall now return to action on Monday against relegation-threatened Fleetwood in a match that is being shown live on Sky. But tomorrow, promotion rivals Burton host Gillingham at the Pirelli Stadium.

A win for Justin Edinburgh's side would give the Saddlers a substantial boost in their hopes of winning automatic promotion and would mean they were three points behind the Brewers with a game in hand.

And Forde admits it's only natural the players will be keeping tabs on the game.

"Of course we will be looking for Burton's result," he said.

"It's only natural and hopefully we get a good result for us and we can have a good rest before our game on Monday because we've had a lot of Saturday/Tuesday games.

"So we can freshen up and hopefully get another great result on Monday."

Meanwhile, Forde was full of praise for fellow winger Kieron Morris who has scored in back-to-back home games and was also utilised in a central midfield role in the win over Shrewsbury.

"Kieron has played in the middle before and he's always a threat going forward," he added.

"His goal against Shrewsbury he tucked away very nicely on his weaker foot. So credit to Kieron, he did really well. It was good to have quite a lot of attacking players playing and it showed that we can create quite a lot when there is.

"He'll be happy with his display but he's done well in the last few games after waiting for his chance and doing really well coming off the bench.

"He fully deserves his goals.

"Hopefully we can all chip in with a few more now."