It's 83 not out for Walsall's No 1

That is the number of consecutive appearances the goalkeeper will have made in a Walsall shirt when he runs out at Deepdale.

In 18 months with the Saddlers, the 26-year-old has now doubled his total career appearances.

Signed after impressing on trial two summers ago following his release from Chesterfield, O'Donnell has been an ever-present in Dean Smith's team and proof of what can happen when a player catches a break and is given the opportunity to prove himself.

He said: "They brought me in and have really given me a chance, this run of games I have had has been brilliant for me. I feel like I am improving all the time. I am delighted to have played every game.

"All I have ever wanted to do is play football and I can't thank them enough for that."

It is nearly seven years since O'Donnell made his professional debut for Oldham, while on loan from home-town club Sheffield Wednesday.

Another three would pass before he made his breakthrough into the first-team at Wednesday, but his career was a steady succession of loans and inconsistency before he landed with the Saddlers.

He said: "It is difficult coming through a club like Sheffield Wednesday, where success is everything, there and then.

"For younger players to come through is more difficult. But at a club like Walsall, no disrespect, the young lads get the chances which at a bigger club they might not get.

"That is a credit to the gaffer and everyone else. Lads are going to leave here and have careers.

"You leave bigger clubs and don't get games and don't end up where you want to be. To get the games now has been great for me."

When choosing Walsall, O'Donnell was attracted by the chance to work with Saddlers goalkeeping coach Neil Cutler, having met him while on a coaching course several years before.

He recalled: "I had a couple of options but Walsall was the most attractive one for me, at the time. It was the highest level I could have played.

"There were a couple of League One clubs I could have played at but I knew Neil Cutler a bit too and the chance to work with him stood out for me straight away.

"We did our coaching badges probably five or six years ago, down in Reading.

"I did the badges really young, I got them done as soon as I could because you never know what is going to happen.

"I'm glad I did, because you always have it to back you up. We work really well together, as all the goalkeepers do.

"It is a great relationship to have because you know win, lose or draw, whether you have a good, bad or indifferent game you are going to have someone back in your corner.

"Cuts and the gaffer have always backed me. Early on, I maybe made a few mistakes but I always had them backing me up and that was important, to have people who stick by you."

O'Donnell freely admits he is heading into tonight's game at Preston dreaming of a possible trip to Wembley.

He said: "I think you would be lying if you claimed you were not thinking of Wembley, we are 180 minutes away from it.

"Of course you are going to be thinking about it, if you are not, you should be because it gives you that incentive to go out and win.

"I would love to play at Wembley, I think it is something every footballer wants to do before they finish playing."