Whitney pleased with two-goal Moussa
Boss Jon Whitney has challenged Franck Moussa to use his brace at Southend as a platform to reignite his Walsall career.
The Belgian midfielder has struggled to make an impact at the Banks’s Stadium since joining in the summer and hasn’t started a game since the Saddlers defeat at Rochdale back in November.
But Moussa came off the bench to devastating affect on Saturday and netted twice in seven minutes to put Whitney’s men in the ascendancy at Roots Hall.
A second half-fight-back from Phil Brown’s side meant it was the Shrimpers who went on to claim all three points.
And Whitney felt Moussa’s performance was the only positive from the trip to the south coast.
“It can be because he has got the ability,” the boss said when asked if Moussa can use the goals as a turning point.
“Franck is the best finisher at the club.
“If you get Franck in the box he is one of the best finishers which he showed for both goals. The one slight positive from Southend was his two goals.
“But he was disappointed because he was on the losing side against a team he would have liked to put one over.”
The clash at Southend saw Whitney hand Andreas Makris a first league start since the reverse fixture against the Shrimpers back in November.
And the boss revealed he wanted to reward the Cypriot international after some impressive performances in training.
“I have given Simeon (Jackson) a run – I have given Ama (Amadou Bakayoko) a run,” Whitney continued.
“Andreas came on against Fleetwood and did well and I felt he deserved his chance.
“He has had great energy in training and I felt he occupied their defence really well in the first half.
“They didn’t get any real free headers. He put a shift in the for team and team and that helped Franck gets his two goals.”
Whitney also revealed Florent Cuvelier has stepped up his recovery after the midfielder picked a calf injury at Scunthorpe back in February.
“Flo is good – he is doing really well,” the boss added. “I’ve been monitoring his progress and he is ready now to step to the next level with his rehab which is really promising. I am hopeful for him to still be involved at the start of April which will be a real bonus for us.”
Meanwhile, Walsall’s League One clash with Port Vale - which was initially scheduled to take place at the Banks’s on Saturday – has been re-arranged for April 25 with a 7.45pm kick-off.
The Saddlers were forced to postpone the encounter after four members of the squad received international call-ups.
Neil Etheridge has linked up with the Philippines squad for their friendly with Malaysia tomorrow and their Asian Cup qualifier against Nepal on Monday.
Maz Kouhyar is in the Afghanistan squad for their friendly against Singapore on Thursday and their Asian Cup qualifier at home to Vietnam on Tuesday.
Makris will be hoping to feature for Cyprus in their friendly with Kazakhstan tomorrow and their World Cup qualifier against Estonia on Saturday. Meanwhile, Jackson has linked up with Canada for their friendly against Scotland tomorrow.
