No wholesale changes for Saddlers

Walsall manager Chris Hutchings looks set to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes against Millwall despite last week's slump at Southampton.

The Saddlers went down to a 5-1 defeat on the south-coast last weekend – a result which has left them 15 points adrift of the play-offs.

The likes of goalkeeper Clayton Ince, Manny Smith, Mark Hughes and Steve Jones were on the bench all eager for a promotion, while Dwayne Mattis has also rated himself 50/50 to face the Lions after recovering from injury.

But Hutchings hints at keeping faith with the majority of the same players at the Banks's Stadium tomorrow.

He said: "It was a disappointing result, but let's not forget Southampton beat Huddersfield 5-0 on Tuesday as well.

"When you compare the resources that we have to what Huddersfield have it's a massive, massive difference. If you look at in those terms we haven't been doing too bad.

"When you're asking me whether I've got big decisions to make, you could say 'what about Rene Gilmartin in goal?' But he had no chance for the goals, and pulled off some excellent saves.

"In recent games Clayton has made massive boobs. We were lucky to get away with it at Leeds but we didn't against Yeovil. Whether it's an outfield player or a goalkeeper I have big decisions to make.

"Unfortunately, we caught Southampton on a very good day, in Rene's defence. If we were in the top two or three there would be big question marks about it but they had Rickie Lambert, who has cost over £1million and Lee Barnard cost a lot, they are players of calibre at this level.

"We will see what happens on Saturday. It's nice to have a fully fit squad. In recent weeks when you've looked at the bench – and that's no disrespect to the guys on the bench – it's been very hard to change things.

"It's nice to have a little bit of a choice."

The Saddlers chief remained tight-lipped on whether Jones will be recalled, after the 33-year-old made his return from a lengthy lay-off as a substitute at St Mary's last weekend.

Hutchings added: "Steve was our top scorer before he got injured, so it's obviously a boost to have him back in the squad. But whether we decide to start him or not remains to be seen."