Walsall stopper Liam Roberts looking to build Fortress Banks’s

With one win and two draws so far in League Two, Walsall are one of a handful of teams with an unbeaten start to the league campaign.

That one win came at home to Grimsby Town and following a hard-fought draw away to Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, Roberts wants to follow that up with a home performance on the front foot.

“We need to make our home games as a fortress,” he said.

“When we’re at home we need to emphasise on bringing the tempo and making sure we impose ourselves on the game – do it the right way.

“There’s going to be games where we won’t be on it with the ball but we need to dig in, make sure that whatever happens we have that winning mentality.”

Steve Ball’s Colchester are another side to make an unbeaten start to the League Two season, winning once and drawing three.

They were unfortunate to throw away a 2-0 lead against Oldham last week, drawing 3-3 after a late equaliser, and Roberts is expecting a stern test.

“It will be a tough game, they’re still unbeaten as well in the league,” he added.

“They were a physical side last year and to be fair they have good quality in the team.

“They have a few players with individual quality and we need to be ruthless, keep them out of the box and score ruthlessly.

“When we get our chances we need to take them.

“We’ve got to be ruthless as a team. Whenever we’re playing we’ve got to defend ruthlessly and you’ve got to score ruthlessly.

“We want to be winners at the end of the day, we’re competitive and one of the hardest working teams in the league, the lads in front of me.

“I don’t think many teams run us off the park so it’s just about the quality and I think that we’re getting there as a team.

“You can’t win every game but can you win them nine times out of 10? Can you get a point when you’re not playing at your best?”

Born and bred in Walsall and having come through the academy, Roberts has always fed off the atmosphere of the supporters and would interact with them wherever possible. Now, with fans not allowed in the stadium for the time being, the 25-year-old has had to adapt to his new surroundings.

“Usually when you come into the ground on a Saturday everything is buzzing,” he said.

“People there watching, cheering you on so at the start of the season it was a bit tough walking out in complete silence.

“Sometimes you can have teams that start slow in a sense because they’re not used to having no crowd or used to having anything like that.

“Before the game with nobody in the ground it doesn’t matter how you get yourself to where you need to be mentally, you need to get that winning mentality before you even get on the pitch.

“Not just us a club but as a professional, I think a lot of the winning mentality starts in the changing room so that’s why I think if you start bright some teams will start slowly because there’s no motivation in the stadium or things like that, it’s really quiet.

“Even us as players, we’re missing the fans and having them behind us. It’s a difficult transition, not just for us but as a club as well so we’re looking forward to having everyone back.”

Darrell Clarke is expected to have a fully fit squad to choose from tomorrow.

Defender Callum Cockerill-Mollett has missed the last two weeks with a hamstring strain, but Clarke revealed last week that he was close to returning to training.