Phew - what a relief

Regardless of the fact that we really shouldn't have been in the position where a comeback of Lazarus proportions was required in the first place, the turning around of a 0-2 deficit at Wycombe last Saturday was still a remarkable achievement.

Indeed the reversing of a 0-2 scoreline is a pretty rare occurrence as far as Walsall are concerned over the years, not least in an away fixture. My memory suggests apart from undoing the two goal start offered to Bristol Rovers (exactly 11 years to the day – I'm told) during that mercurial first Ray Graydon season and the fantastic "Robins, Robins, What's the score?" 3-2er at Millmoor in August 2000 anything barring defeat from a two goal deficit away from home since then has been almost non existent.

Yes there were a couple of home wins under Paul Merson that undid similarly poor starts to games but without digging too deeply into the stats books I suspect that the single points gleaned over the years from visits to Reading, Grimsby and Derby are exceptions rather than the rule.

Without doubt Saturday's second half turnaround was important. With no league fixture this weekend we'd have had the disappointment of defeat at the League's bottom side irritating and gnawing away for a whole fortnight. Indeed added to the reverse at Colchester in our previous fixture the danger of going four weeks without adding to our league point total was very real. And with us, I suspect, likely to take a few more glances over our shoulders than we're going to need in front of us – at least until we cross the 50 point barrier – it was important that we didn't get bogged down in a run of defeats.

The three points collected from the win however establishes us comfortably in the security of mid table in advance of the enforced cup break and with a league visit from Stockport County looming after the Stourbridge tie there is no reason why we can't continue to progress upwards after the somewhat welcome distraction of the FA Cup this weekend.

Personally I'm really looking forward to Saturday.

As a kid my formative years watching Walsall were laced with more than a smattering of cup success and whilst I was too young for the wins over the United's of Manchester and Newcastle I spent many an hour listening to tales of what they were like. My first ever away game was a Fifth Round FA Cup spanking at Arsenal in 1978 and whilst the might of MacDonald, Stapleton and Sunderland proved far too good for Dave Mackay's men I returned home that night hooked for life.

Clearly there'll be a lot less glamour associated with a fixture at Stourbridge than there was on that February afternoon in North London all those years ago but it shouldn't be forgotten that that cup run began with a fixture against similar sized opposition in Dagenham.

In addition it shouldn't be forgotten that the trip to Old Trafford in 1998 began with a fixture against Lincoln United, and whilst a non-league 1st round draw can never guarantee the glamour fixture later on in the competition they at least provide a decent opportunity to progress.. That is so long as you prepare properly and execute those well laid plans . . .

Slough will be a name close to many fans lips in advance of Saturday's kick off, should Chris Hutchings get his preparation right I'd hope that it won't be a word on journalists lips come Saturday tea time. Good luck to Stourbridge on Saturday, I hope they really have a super day. However, Hutchings and his players need to ensure that the Glassboys' FA Cup journey ends this Saturday afternoon..