Dean Keates confident Walsall can avoid relegation
Boss Dean Keates remains confident Walsall will avoid relegation despite his team dropping into the bottom four after losing at Sunderland.
On what was a hugely frustrating afternoon for the Saddlers, Keates’ men did enough to earn a point at the Stadium of light.
But a goal from ex-Walsall man Will Grigg - who cost £4million in January - consigned them to a 2-1 loss.
It means the Saddlers have dropped into the relegation zone for the first time this season.
Incredibly though they remain just three points behind 12th placed Plymouth.
“The league is tight, it’s very tight,” Keates said.
“We are three points off 12th place but it’s still disappointing, we don’t want to be in there. “But there are going to be a lot of twists and turns over the next eight games.
“We are confident in ourselves, we have the belief that we will get ourselves out of it.”
Walsall took the lead at the Stadium of Light through a wonderfully taken Josh Gordon goal.
The Saddlers then had a number of chances to double their lead with Joe Edwards seeing a strike blocked while Zeli Ismail tricked his way into the box before forcing Jon McLaughlin into a save.
But those misses proved costly with Lee Cattermole pulling the hosts level before Grigg’s winner.
“It was relief for Sunderland at the final whistle,” the boss continued.
“We scored a really good goal, we looked bright and countered well in the first-half.
“They blocked a couple of our shots and we are disappointed, we have come to Sunderland, and we have taken the game to them.
“Give credit to their player - he’s pulled a great block off from Joe (Edwards). We got into good areas in the first half.
“We are a little bit more disappointed with the second half. We got into some good areas but the final ball into the box wasn’t good enough.
“I thought we did enough to get a point from the game.”
Keates was pleased with his team’s defensive performance overall but said you can’t afford to give a strike like Grigg any sight of goal.
“I thought the back four really did well really limiting their opportunities,” Keates added.
“And by and large they did well against Will Grigg.
“But you give a striker who cost millions of pounds of deadline day half an opportunity and they take it.”
