Former Walsall flyer Milan Lalkovic still haunted by missing out on promotion

The Saddlers reached the League One summit with a 2-0 win over Burton Albion in October 2015 following a run of just one defeat from their opening 12 games (seven wins, four draws).

“We had a squad that we could flip from 4-3-3 to five at the back. The gaffer (Smith) could make changes to impact each individual game,” Lalkovic recalls.

“It was great, and we missed out on automatic promotion before messing up the play-offs, which still haunts me to this day. We also beat Brighton and Nottingham Forest in the cup. We were a well-drilled machine.”

Smith’s sudden departure the following month threatened to derail Walsall’s promotion push, but maximum points from four games in December kept them firmly in the hunt.

Walsall had talents such as Neil Etheridge, Rico Henry, Romaine Sawyers and Tom Bradshaw in their ranks, who’ve all gone on to play at a higher level.

But a six-match winless run between February and March cost Sean O’Driscoll his job, and Jon Whitney took the reins for the remainder of the campaign, as Walsall missed out on automatic promotion in cruel fashion by just one point. “We didn’t change much after Dean left. But if he stays then I think we get promoted,” he claims. “I’ve known Sean O’Driscoll since I was 18. He gave me my professional debut and is a very good gaffer with lots of experience.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but then Jon Whitney got the job and we just went back to basics like we were doing under the old gaffer. We got through it and nearly got promoted straight away. We won 5-0 against Port Vale in what was an unbelievable team performance. But we were waiting on the result in the Doncaster and Burton game, and unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.”

Lalkovic returned to Bescot on trial last summer but is now at Greek second tier side Makedonikos.