Walsall debrief: Selection questions, positives to take and Daniel Kanu shines

Elliot Newby and substitute Charlie McCann scored in either half for the Bluebirds, who saw Lewis Shipley sent off for a second bookable offence after the interval. 

Daniel Kanu halved the deficit for the Saddlers, but Aaron Pressley squandered a gilt-edged chance to salvage a point when he headed on to the post in stoppage time.

Selection calls 

There were a few eyebrows raised when the team was announced 75 minutes before kick-off. 

The biggest question mark was over Mat Sadler's decision to drop Charlie Lakin to the bench and there were very few answers provided as to why when the full-time whistle sounded. 

Lakin has been a crucial cog in the system and does a lot of the dirty work that sometimes goes unnoticed, but is crucial nonetheless. 

Courtney Clarke was preferred in midfield on his first home league start and showed glimpses of his quality in attack for the first 70 minutes. 

He actually had his best spell in the game once Lakin came on and had a couple of chances to score in the closing stages.

His positional discipline remains an issue though and Barrow were able to easily break down the right to score both goals. 

Positives to take 

The defeat brought the Saddlers' eight-match unbeaten run to an end, but they can take solace in the performance, especially in the last 20 minutes, albeit against 10-men.

Perhaps the triple change after going 2-0 down could be viewed as an admission that Sadler had picked the wrong team to start with. 

Ryan Finnigan was much more of a threat than Jamie Jellis when he came on and Albert Adomah set-up Kanu's leveller. 

Lakin also provided Walsall with more attacking impetus, after replacing Lewis Warrington, who was guilty of being too safe in his play. 

In Walsall's defence, on another day they would easily have emerged with all three points. 

24 shots, 11 on target and 39 touches inside the opposition box underlined their dominance, but Wyll Stanway's show-stopping performance between the sticks proved the difference for Barrow. 

Daniel Kanu shines 

Kanu was the standout for Walsall and almost had a running battle with Stanway at times. 

There is such a great range to his game. Not only can he be elusive with his movement inside the box, but he has the pace to run in behind, and the ability to play between the lines, 

That was on full show on Saturday and his fourth goal of the season was just reward for an excellent individual performance. 

Frustration towards officials 

Sadler was critical of referee Benjamin Speedie at full-time and he had every right to feel aggrieved. 

Aden Flint was pulled down as early as the seventh-minute and Clarke was bundled into from behind inside the box later in the first half. 

Both incidents were right under the nose of the referee, who was unmoved.

Why do Walsall struggle with more possession? 

Walsall have won just twice with more possession than the opposition in League Two during Sadler's reign. 

It's a remarkable statistic, but it does also raise fears over Walsall's inability to get results when they're tasked with taking the game to the opposition.

They finished with 59 per cent of the ball and did at least create a glut of chances, which perhaps points to a lack of a clinical touch as the main issue on this occasion.