Jon Whitney bemoans Walsall defending following derby draw
Walsall boss Jon Whitney bemoaned his side's defending after they let a one-goal lead slip to draw at Shrewsbury.
A Kieron Morris header put the Saddlers in control in Shropshire following a first half in which Whitney's men dominated.
But Shrewsbury hit back after the interval with Stefan Payne outmuscling both Jason McCarthy and Matt Preston to score with a back-post header.
The result means Whitney's men have failed to win in their last six League One outings – with the manager far from happy with his team's defending.
"That is a game where you need to see out a 1-0," Whitney said
"The first half was scrappy, a typical derby, and you could sense the tension. When we did start to get it down and play, we got our goal and deservedly so as well.
"In the second half we knew they would put us under pressure and put three up top, and we would have to defend a lot of long balls.
"I thought we did that really well but I'm not happy with their goal and I've told my players that.
"I said at half-time that if they wanted to score a goal, then they need to be heading somebody's elbow. It has to mean that much, to win your ugly 1-0s.
"We're not doing it well enough and I will make some players accountable. Twice we didn't stop the cross and we defended poorly, woefully at the back stick to give them a free header in the six-yard box. I'm not accepting that.
"You will come under pressure when you are away from home and you have to enjoy that defending and then, when you get the ball, keep it with a little bit of quality or take the pressure off."
Walsall led before drawing 1-1 with Oxford in their previous outing and Whitney says he players must start learning from their mistakes.
"It's important that we address the issues of the goal because there's certain things I keep telling people and you've got to start to learn," the boss added.
"If you don't, that means you either don't want to do something or you're not good enough to do it.
"For me, as a defender, I wouldn't be happy with that goal. There will be some players with their heads down and rightly so because you should see that game out."
Meanwhile, Whitney confirmed Neil Etheridge missed the game at Shrewsbury with a hamstring injury and is now likely to be out for the rest of the season.
The Philippines international is out of contract in the summer and looks set to leave the Banks's Stadium.
