Express & Star

Walsall aim to shine in end of season run-in

Walsall boss Michael Flynn said there will be ‘No looking back’ as his team enter the final phase of the season.

Published

The Saddlers travel to Grimsby today and AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday with an air of optimism in the squad after a good win over Gillingham.

Flynn said despite previous injury worries which had effectively ended Walsall’s chances of making the end-of-season play-offs, nobody in his squad was going to dwell on them.

He said: “Nobody will be looking back, we will all be focussing on trying to get as many wins and as many points as we can before the end of the season.

“It’s true the injury situation has started to look a bit better and it may have come slightly too late for us, but you can’t dwell on what might have been and, as I have said before, this season is an improvement on the last one.

“There are also 10 games left with some tough ones coming up including Grimsby, because that is always a tough place to go.

“I have a lot of respect for (manager) Paul Hurst and they have had a great cup run this season which has seen them beat higher level teams and was a credit to the division.”

Flynn joked he was going to play a 2-3-5 formation and go for attack for the remainder of the season but admitted they had a good week on the back of the Gillingham win, with the players also being given two days off.

He said: “The mood was good at training this week, it always is when you win – and that result was deserved, if a long time coming.

“As a player or manager you can savour it for a few days at least and then it is back to the hard graft and planning for the next one

“But we are looking forward to the run-in where to an extent there will be a bit less pressure on us because a win always eases that as well.

“We will try and play some good football but the reality is, as a manager, I don’t overly care how we win games as long as we do win them because that’s what people see when they look at the table.

“But with Jamille (Matt) coming back in a week’s time and potentially then a fully fit squad, I will be able to look at things and decide what I want to do for next season.”