Lee Grant hails "powerful" Walsall after stunning Bristol City victory

Lee Grant hailed his Walsall team for their “powerful” performance, after they pulled off an upset by beating Championship side Bristol City at Ashton Gate in the Carabao Cup first round.

Aaron Pressley scored the match-winner for the Saddlers, after sweeping Reece Smith’s low cross into the top corner just two minutes into the second half.

It proved to be a memorable night for Walsall, as Bristol-born shot-stopper Jed Ward produced a number of excellent saves to keep the Robins at bay.

“Powerful” - Grant hails Walsall performance

On the victory, Grant said: “It had all the hallmarks of everything we talked about before the game.

“That’s incredibly powerful for the group because they set their stool out to do what they ended up doing.

“We understood the task ahead of us. A team that’s two leagues above and you could see the quality on display tonight.

“They played really well actually, but our group were fantastic with the way they stood up to it, defended and how together they were.”

Grant also switched from a 4-2-3-1, which was largely played in pre-season, to a 3-4-3 on the night.

Yet, the team clicked immediately and produced an efficient and fluid performance off-the-ball.

“We don’t talk about formations” - Grant on team selection

And Grant put the performance down to the principles that Walsall have worked on over the past few weeks.

“That’s because principally we did everything the same. The way we work every day allows us to translate into [other formations] and we don’t talk about formations either,” he added.

“I know everybody else wants to talk about formations, but we don’t. We talk about roles, we talk about responsibilities, and the boys certainly bought into their roles and responsibilities tonight.

“That was probably the most pleasing aspect for me.”