Express & Star

Jon Whitney: Walsall deserved more

Walsall boss Jon Whitney felt his side was unfortunate not to claim all three points after they played out a 1-1 draw at MK Dons.

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In what was a game of two-halves in Buckinghamshire, Robbie Neilson’s side opened the scoring through Chuks Aneke.

But the Saddlers came on strong after the interval with Tyler Roberts pulling them level from the penalty spot just before the hour mark.

After that, Whitney’s men saw Roberts, Erhun Oztumer and Ama Bakayoko all have chances to win it.

And the boss was disappointed his side didn’t claim the win.

“The lads are a bit disappointed we didn’t win it,” he said.

“With the chances we have created second half, I thought we deserved to win it.

“I thought we dominated in second half and pressed them really high.

"The plan was to always contain them first-half.

“They get a goal from a set-piece. But we limited them to a few chances and defended really well.

“We are disappointed we haven’t won the game.

"I think the energy from the players was a credit to the lads.

"They put an absolute shift in against a team who are big-hitters in this league and I thought some of our link play was fantastic in the second half.

Whitney was bold when naming his starting line-up with Erhun Oztumer left on the bench as he switched to a 4-5-1 formation.

“I wanted to freshen things up a little bit,” the boss continued.

“Some of the players have played a lot of games.

"It was important we had legs out there because we needed to close down the space because they are a really technical side.

“Robbie was expecting a response from his players after two defeats.

"I think he got that first half. But second half we pressed on and I think the changes we made worked really well.

“We knew they were really strong in midfield so we want to go a little more defensive with that 4-5-1.

“But we had that attacking threat with Ama on the left and Tyler.

“We have got Flo Cuvelier in central midfield. I thought Liam Kinsella had an excellent game at right-back. So credit to Liam.

It’s really nice to see one of our products, who has been here since the age of seven coming in and having a really strong display.”