Jon Whitney: Southend could be season defining

The Saddlers travel to Roots Hall tomorrow to take on a Shrimpers side also battling to finish in the League One play-offs.

Phil Brown's men currently sit seventh in the division, four points and two places above Walsall.

And when asked if tomorrow's game is season defining, Whitney said: "Possibly. You don’t want to build too much expectancy and pressure. But of course it’s nice to be looking at it that way.

"The fact that if we win we go within a point of them. We need to make sure we go down there and give it a good go – not sit in.

"We want to put in similar performances to what we showed at Charlton and Scunthorpe. We want to go there, create problems and try and win the game."

Whitney thinks it will be hard to catch the Shrimpers if his team gets beat.

"It could be a seven point gap and if we are honest that could be too much," he continued.

"We need to go down there and get some points. But I enjoy playing against Southend.

"I have been successful coming up against Phil Brown since I first took charge on an interim basis.

"We know what to expect. The expectation is on them.

"And we are going to go there and try and spoil the party."

Walsall will be without influential defender Eoghan O'Connell for the trip to Essex.

The Celtic loanee broke his nose and picked up a hamstring injury In Tuesday's defeat to Fleetwood.

And Whitney says it's still too early to say when he will be back.

"Eoghan broke his nose about two minutes before he came off – and then he felt his hamstring," the boss added.

"We have assessed him but it is still quite tight.

"After some more assessment he will probably have a scan. But he is Celtic’s player so we do whatever they ask.

"We will know more soon but he definitely won’t be available for the weekend. "On average, with my experience, hamstrings usually take between 17 and 21 days. But we'll have to see."