Sean O'Driscoll praises Walsall's battling draw
Walsall boss Sean O'Driscoll praised his players discipline and organisation after his side battled their way to a goalless draw against League One leaders Burton.
In a cagey match low on clear-cut chances, both teams cancelled each other out for long spells in a fixture that was always going to have a big say on the promotion race.
The Saddlers looked more likely to take the lead in the first half, with Burton shot-stopper Jon McLaughlin keeping out Paul Downing and Romaine Sawyers.
Stuart Beavon and Mason Bennett had chances for the hosts, but overall a draw was a fair result in the tightly contested encounter.
O'Driscoll said: "I think we were organised, disciplined and professional and deserved at least a point.
"I've watched a number of games here at Burton, where teams have fallen into the trap of trying to play where there's no space.
"I thought we created the better chances and it was a different kind of performance from us than those we've put in before.
"There wasn't a lot of free-flowing football because there wasn't much space on the pitch for that to happen but I thought we were excellent in what we did.
"We're disappointed we didn't win because we thought the moments of quality in the game came from us, and we felt we should have done better with those chances.
"But there were loads of positives to take from it and, again, our level of performance, regardless of results, has been high."
The game saw the division's best away record go up against the team with the second best home form in League One.
And O'Driscoll was asked why the Saddlers are currently performing better on the road.
He joked: "It's probably because we lose the previous home game. We've just tried to be consistent, home and away. But at home we are a bit more open and expansive and that has caused us problems.
"We will take heart from this point as clean sheets win you titles and get you success. But that doesn't over-ride anything because we need to score goals as well.
"But if we can take the defensive points from this and try to remain focused and organised and disciplined when we've got the ball.
"Hopefully, chances like the ones we've created today will go in over the following games."
