Home run can help ignite Walsall play-off charge

However, the next five league fixtures, four of which are at home, will provide them with a prime opportunity to bounce back.

A trip to Gillingham is sandwiched between back-to-back home fixtures against Accrington Stanley and Sutton United, before Morecambe and Newport County visit Bescot in February. Accrington are winless in five away fixtures, and Walsall can leapfrog them with victory on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Sutton, Morecambe and Newport are all below the Saddlers in the table.

Walsall laid the foundations for a potential play-off push with five wins from six in League Two between the comeback victory at Notts County on December 9 and the 6-1 thrashing of Grimsby Town on New Year’s Day.

Home form has been relatively strong under Mat Sadler with Walsall succumbing to only two defeats in 12 matches (six wins, four draws).

Walsall have also conceded just nine times on home soil – a tally only bettered by automatic promotion contenders Mansfield Town (seven) and Barrow (eight).

All five of Walsall’s league clean sheets have come at the Bescot, and they’ve collected maximum points from six of the seven home games in which they’ve taken the lead (one draw).

In contrast, Walsall have shipped 30 goals on the road (the same total as the whole of last season), and have fallen behind in 13 of their 14 away fixtures.

Admittedly, only Crewe Alexandra (17) have earned more points than Walsall (14) from losing positions, while Sadler’s men have averaged 1.7 goals on their travels as opposed to 1.3 at home.

But the reality is that Walsall are harder to beat on their own patch, and that could prove a defining factor in the race for the play-offs.