Michael Cain staying grounded with Walsall

But he's keen to ensure the biggest successes are yet to come.

From battling away in Leicester City's under-21s, Cain has made 24 straight appearances for the Saddlers since being signed in October on a loan deal which will now run to the end of the season.

A Wembley final still to come, his main concern now is making it back there twice through the play-offs.

Which wouldn't be at all bad, for a 20-year-old.

"You want to challenge yourself and try to play at the highest level you can – for me to be in a team challenging for a play-off position in League One at this stage of my career I am over the moon about it," enthuses Cain.

"I just want to thank everyone involved for giving me a chance."

Cain's first appearance for the Saddlers came in a 1-0 defeat at Crawley, the last reverse suffered by Dean Smith's men on the road in the league.

Since then they have played seven times away from the Banks's, winning five, drawing two and conceding only twice.

And as the team has developed, so has Cain, who had just two senior appearances to his name prior to this campaign.

"I think I am a better player and a much wiser player as well," he says. "Getting a bit of experience, I feel I am developing every game and my understanding of the game is getting a lot better.

"Hopefully I can carry it on. It is not that I have learned one big thing, it is everything.

"I have learned different aspects, on the technical side, what teams are like in League One compared to League Two.

"It is just different and I feel there is more of a competitive edge than playing under-21 football."

Walsall's chances of making the top six may well be determined in how they fare over the forthcoming fortnight featuring five games, four of which are away.

Tomorrow's visit to play-off rivals Bradford is followed by a trip to Preston before meetings with strugglers Leyton Orient, Yeovil and Barnsley.

"It's a big period and a lot of games coming up and if we can string a few results together we will be right up there," added Cain.

"It works both ways. The game against Vale was not a fair result in terms of reflecting the game but if we can bounce back and get a few results we can get back to where we want to be.

"I'm not too sure why we've been so good away. When we go away, the home side feel the pressure to win. It does play into our hands.

"They come and try to break us down and leave spaces behind which we like to exploit, especially with the formation we play. If Bradford come at us there will be holes behind and we can exploit them."

Much of the pre-match talk has focused on the state of the Valley Parade pitch.

But Cain adds: "You have to play the conditions. It is the same for both teams. We will go out there and try to play the best we can in order to get the result.

"They have had a couple of good results against some very good teams and their position in the league is respectable and they are challenging for the same thing we are.

"They are a big team but so are we. If we can go there and play well we can come out with the right result."