Walsall Column - The Night From Hell

"If we don't win this everyone's going to forget Saturday and we all all be on a downer," exclaimed the lad stood next to me in the pouring rain at Accrington on Tuesday night. He was right.

At that particular time the scores were level, with the cup-tie going nowhere and an additional period of rai- soaked stalemate followed by the misery of another penalty shoot-out exit looked pretty much nailed on.

But, just under an hour earlier, the thought of a gloomy back end to this week looked as likely as Arsene Wenger seeing a red shirted flying elbow, as an 11-man strong Saddlers side strolled through the early stages of the cup tie, as if it was a first-team versus reserves behind closed doors kick about.

There looked only one possible outcome in the quarter-hour that followed, after a cracking set piece that Alex Nicholls' impressive early volley converted with almost arrogant aplomb.

Unmarked eight yards out, Nicholls opened his season's account by refusing the opportunity to take a controlling first touch and cushioned an outside of the footer sweetly wide of a statuesque goalkeeper.

A classy touch that smacked of a player and side full of confidence gleaned from Saturday's fine away three point haul and knowingly superior to the opposition that the first round draw had placed in front of them.

Indeed, between that goal and the moment that Rhys Weston claimed his third yellow card of a season less then 80 hours old, the manager must surely have been already contemplating who on his substitutes bench would be blooded, in order to provide one or two of his preferred starting 11 with the luxury of early shower and half-hour of watching the game from the safety of the main stand.

Unfortunately for Chris Hutchings, Weston's two rushes of blood around the half-hour mark ended any premature thoughts that his manager might have been having about how we will be lining up this Saturday afternoon.

Whilst the first one was a relatively straight forward booking, you do have to wonder what was going through his mind as he launched himself into the second challenge.

With the attacker having his back to a goal 60 yards away and smack band in front of the home dug-out, Weston's semi-retraction of the challenge was never going to be enough.

The home dug out's actions in simultaneously emptying and spilling unnecessarily menacingly towards the offender were laced with the blatant intention of ensuring that the referee came to an decision agreeable to the home side, but in truth skipper Weston should never have put himself in the position that determine his manager's team plans for the next fortnight.

Around one hour later, Accrington Stanley had added their name to the somewhat less than glamorous list of who had recently sent a club with a once proud pedigree and tradition spinning out of the Carling Cup at the first time of asking once again.

In turn, virtually all of the positive vibes drawn from that excellent opening day win at Brighton's Withdean Stadium - possibly the most misleading use of the term ever - were forgotten amid the disappointment of another missed opportunity to progress.

The lad next to me was so right. The win at Brighton had been consigned to history long before the homebound M65 was even close in sight.

Given the old adage that you are only ever as good as your last performance, Hutchings' side have a bit to prove during this Saturday's home opener against Southend.