Mat Sadler's delight at key Walsall attribute in 'deserved' win

Freddie Draper opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, before Oisin McEntee extended Walsall's advantage on the hour-mark with Ryan Stirk setting up both goals with two corner deliveries.

Sadler opted to keep the same 11 players on the pitch until the 80th minute, and has praised the physical endurance that his players showed throughout the game.

"We're a fit group. Sometimes there's the tendency to want to change things for changing sake. I am not like that. I feel like if I need to change something then of course I will," Sadler revealed.

"But as I watched that game playing out, I saw no reason to change anything. That's credit to the lads because they are desperate and willing to work so, so hard every single day, and in every single game.

"They have to enjoy wins like today because they've earned it and they deserve it."

Both goals came from set pieces as Stirk extended his total to five assists for the campaign, and Sadler hailed goalkeeping coach Dan Watson for his work on dead ball situations.

However, McEntee hobbled off late on, and Sadler revealed that the Irishman sustained a hamstring injury. But the Walsall boss was understandably unable to judge the severity of the issue so soon after the game.

"We work really hard on set pieces. Dan Watson works so hard on our set plays and probably the execution hasn't been right at times," he added.

"I thought it all came together and was exactly what we've worked on. The work that Dan puts in has been amazing and the delivery from Stirk was top drawer today.

"There were also willing runs into the box and the only blot of the afternoon was that Oisin had to come off, who scored the second goal.

"It was a shame. It looked like his hamstring. He's just being assessed now, but I don't know. Maybe you're looking at a couple of weeks."