Back to normality for Saddlers boss Sean O'Driscoll
After the fanfare of his appointment was quickly followed by a debut win over Port Vale, Sean O'Driscoll has taken the welcome opportunity this week to draw breath.
The new Walsall head coach concedes he was 'glad', in some respects, to get his opening game in charge over and done with.
It may be Christmas, yet the days since have afforded at least something like a return to normality, allowing O'Driscoll the chance to get to know his players better ahead of this weekend's trip to Millwall.
"I think, probably for the players, it was another change and I keep saying we're trying to make it as seamless as possible," he said.
"Getting off to a win and a clean sheet, there were certainly some good performances among the team. Hopefully that will continue."
Amid all the change, it has almost gone unnoticed the Vale victory was the Saddlers' third on the bounce in League One.
To continue the sequence, they must now see off the Lions, who were among the pre-season promotion favourites after being relegated from the Championship last season.
Sitting three points outside the top six at present, Neil Harris' men are still expected to challenge over the second half of the campaign but enter the game looking to end a run of back-to-back defeats at the Den.
O'Driscoll has recent experience of what it is like to fall from the second tier to the third, having been in charge of the Bristol City team which made the journey in 2013.
He believes players sometimes struggle with adapting to the style of the division below.
"The tendency I suppose – I don't think players do this consciously – but they think this might be a little bit easier," he said.
"Maybe there's more quality in the Championship but the rest of it is exactly the same.
"You still have to work really hard and you're still going to get decisions that go for you and against you. You're going to lose games that you think you should win and you're going to win games that you think 'how did we win that?' All of those things culminate into seasons that get a bit bitty.
"It's always a difficult place to go Millwall. It is a Championship club in all but where they are in the league structure."
Neither has the length of the Boxing Day trip been lost on the new boss.
"It would be nice if it was a little bit nearer, I think for everybody," said O'Driscoll. "You think Christmas fixture and you think why are you dragging us all the way down to London? I don't quite get that one."
