Walsall v Bradford - Match preview

A run of nine matches without a victory has seen the Saddlers fall away in the race for the League Two play-offs with Michael Flynn’s team booed off after Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Barrow.

The visit of a Bradford side spearheaded by former Walsall striker Andy Cook, who have won five of their last six to keep alive hopes of automatic promotion, offers a swift chance to put things right.

Daniels said: “I’ve said to the boys this game could be either a gift or a curse.

“We have to take it as a gift that we have the opportunity to go straight back into another game and right the wrongs from Saturday.

“We’ve got to stand up and be counted and we’ve got to use our home advantage and really take the game to them.”

Flynn has warned players they could be playing for their futures during the run-in and will not accept any loss in focus, even if the top seven proves to be out of reach.

Daniels echoed those sentiments, explaining: “The gaffer said about finding out the character of players – I second most of what he says.

“We represent him and ourselves and this football club. We are going to give our all. You can’t always control the outcome of things but we want to control the controllables.

“This game coming up and the ones after that will show what we are made of as individuals and as a team.”

Daniels believes players can take heart from experiences earlier in the season when they rebounded strongly after a 12-match unbeaten run which began in August and extended into October.

Saturday’s defeat was just the Saddlers fourth in the league in five months but their progress has been slowed by nine draws during that period, including a club record six on the spin prior to the weekend.

“For a while, it’s been frustrating and we’ve tried to do different things as a group of players,” said Daniels. “We’ve had conversations in the dressing room, we’ve spoken to the coaching staff.

“But sometimes football is like that, where you don’t get the rub of the green. Sometimes I feel we’ve shot ourselves in the foot and we’ve no-one to blame but ourselves.

“We have to believe in what we are doing on the training pitch and handle setbacks when they occur during matches.

“We went through a similar patch at the start of the season and came through it and we can do it again.”

He added: “Once we cross the white line, we are the only ones as players who can do anything about it. We have to take each game as it comes – that’s all we can do.

“That can change things. The gaffer picks us, we work hard in training, and we’ve got to go out there and represent him, ourselves, the club, the fans.