George Bennett analysis: Walsall still being plagued by bouts of travel sickness
It’s too early for alarm bells to be ringing, but away form is still an Achilles heal for Walsall.
The Saddlers have registered maximum points over Morecambe and Cheltenham Town on home soil, and have also eliminated League One pair Exeter City and Huddersfield Town under the lights at Bescot in the EFL Cup.
Yet inconsistency on the road continues to undermine their impressive start, after MK Dons inflicted a second successive setback on their travels in League Two.
Since the start of March, Walsall have suffered six defeats in their last nine league matches away from home, which included a 5-0 thrashing at the Stadium MK in the corresponding fixture in March.
Any chance of revenge was hampered by a lethargic first half performance. Mat Sadler made two changes from Tuesday’s draw at Birmingham, but Walsall looked a shadow of the team from the first few weeks of the season.
Debutant George Hall was deployed behind Nathan Lowe in the 10 role, but looked off the pace on his first competitive start in 17 months.
The 20-year-old will clearly benefit from more minutes after an injury-ridden campaign for Birmingham last term, but the evidence of his first-half showing suggests he’ll need time to get back up to speed.
Whereas Walsall largely dominated in their previous defeat at Tranmere a fortnight ago, they failed to ever get a foothold in the contest at Stadium MK.
