Jon Whitney targets top half end to 2016 for Walsall
Boss Jon Whitney has challenged his Walsall players to end 2016 sitting in the top half of League One.
The Saddlers travel to Oxford tomorrow for their New Year's Eve clash with both teams currently locked together on 30 points.
Victory for either side could propel them as high as 10th – ensuring they would end the calender year in the top half of the division.
And after his side put in impressive performances against Bradford and Port Vale, Whitney believes that would be a great way to end 2016.
"It will be nice to finish the year in the top half," the boss said.
"That is a nice target for the players and me as a manager.
"I would have taken that at the start of the season. And it will give us a great building block and foundation to move into the new year.
"It won't be easy to win at Oxford.
"They have got a big squad and some of the players I was after in the summer ended up going there.
"But we go there determined to play with passion, quality and desire.
"If we do that we'll have a great chance."
Whitney has kept the same team for Walsall's last two outings after switching to a traditional 4-4-2 formation.
And the boss is expecting to go with a similar side against Michael Appleton's side at the Kassam Stadium.
"It was nice for me at Port Vale to be able to roll out the same team," the boss continued.
"They deserved the chance to play again after their performance the week before against Bradford.
"We had Kieron Morris back in the fold and Erhun Oztumer is our top scorer but was again on the bench.
"But if you work that hard and put a shift in then you are going to keep yourself in contention.
"It'll be difficult to change it now for Oxford.
"But it's a great position for me to be in because we have got a lot of strength on the bench now.
"And best of all those players are coming on and making an impact."
