John Witney: Walsall draw was fair FA Cup result

On a hugely windy afternoon at the Proact Stadium, goals credited to Jason Demetriou and Samy Morsy saw the second round tie end in a 1-1.

But the weather played a huge part in the both goals with Demetriou later admitting he hadn't realised he'd scored after his cross was deflected into the net by Richard Wood.

While at the final whistle, The Spireites players were overheard debating who had pulled them level following a goalmouth scramble in which the ball appeared to go out off play.

But despite the crazy nature of the game, Whitney felt a draw was the right result.

"It was a fair result," the former striker said.

"Chesterfield were well drilled and they have got some good, experienced players up front – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Lee Novak are a handful for anyone.

"The conditions made it into a proper FA Cup tie, people probably think we can't mix it up and battle but we are where we are because we can play god football but we can also hang in there and stick in. We had to do that today.

"We are a little bit disappointed with their goal. We switched off a little bit, but every mistake we make we make together.

"On Tuesday we can't be happy because we win and today we can't be too disappointed because we have drawn. It's about getting that happy balance. You can't get too emotional."

Whitney believes Demetriou is likely to fail in his bid to claim the opening goal.

"He will try and claim it but I don't think he will succeed," the coach added.

"We opened them up first half and in the second half I thought the weather would help us but it actually helped them.

"We couldn't attack the ball, it kept dropping into the middle third but, at the end of the day, it was a fair result."

Whitney who is 12/1 with bookmakers to fill the vacancy left by Dean Smith, admits he and fellow caretakers John Ward and Neil Cutler have been pleased with their week's work.

"It's been an emotional, tiring week," he said.

"It was my girlfriend's birthday last night and I had to knock that on the head because it had all caught up with me.

"But if you started the week and said you'll still be in the draw for the FA Cup third round on Monday night and you'll have beaten Shrewsbury I think I'll have taken that. We are more than happy with how the week has gone."

Whitney revealed star striker Tom Bradshaw is also recovering well from the injury picked up in the derby win over Shrewsbury.

"Tom isn't as bad as thought," he added.

"We are seeing how he progresses this week. He has improved over the past few days better than expected so there is a chance he will be okay for Fleetwood."