‘Deserved to lose’ - Lee Grant pulls no punches after Walsall FA Cup exit

Lee Grant felt Walsall’s 3-1 loss to Newport County at Rodney Parade was a deserved one, writes Jack Dakin.

Walsall bowed out of the FA Cup at the first round stage with defeat to the Exiles - the first time they have failed to reach the second round since 2020.

Andy Dallas put the Saddlers in front inside six minutes from a rebound, before first half strikes from Kion Etete and Michael Adu-Poku turned the scoreline on its head. Etete tapped home once more on the hour mark to secure the victory for Hayden Mullins’ side.

Grant was disappointed with the performance on show at Rodney Parade and especially with the manner of the goals conceded.

“On the balance of we’ve conceded three goals and only scored one, absolutely (a deserved loss),” said the Walsall boss.

“There’s other metrics in the game you might look at and go, ‘well we were competitive here and we were competitive there, and we had good chances there’, but we can’t concede three bad goals.

“I said to Hayden there in the tunnel, we just had a good chat after the game, and we deserved to lose that game if we’re going to concede three bad goals.”

He continued: “Having the start we had, to go 1-0 up, and then to find yourself 2-1 down, but still feel like there’s lots of opportunity for you in the game and create probably the three best clear-cut chances in the first half.

“(We) should’ve scored, but didn’t, and then again, if you’re going to concede a bad goal in the second half, where we have two opportunities to clear and don’t, you’re going to give yourself a huge mountain to climb.

Newport were good value for their victory on home soil; the Saddlers’ display littered with misplaced passes and sloppy mistakes for large parts of the 90 minutes.

Grant was disappointed with the way Walsall reacted to certain parts of the game - highlighting the lack of composure at times.

He said: “Sloppy, really, with how we dealt with the direct play.

“Of course, playing the way we play, we’re going to turn the ball over at times and reacting is important.

“But giving away lots and lots of free kicks, giving them more opportunity to slow the game and, for want of a better word, shell it in your box, you open yourself up to chaos [and] you have to be prepared to be calm in the chaos.

“We weren’t as calm and concise with our defending as I thought we should’ve been, so [I’m] disappointed.”