'Difficult for me' - Lee Grant sends Lewis Simper message after Walsall goal

Lee Grant insists Lewis Simper has made it “hard” for him to select his team at Colchester United, after scoring his first league goal for Walsall during their 4-2 defeat against Salford City on Monday night.

Simper produced arguably his best Walsall performance so far in the previous outing, as they comprehensively beat Oldham Athletic 3-0 last week.

But Reece Smith was given the nod over him, as Courtney Clarke shifted over to the right wing, for the visit of league leaders Salford City.

He was introduced with Walsall trailing 2-0 and completed a quickfire turnaround with a bullet header, which cannoned in off the crossbar.

‘Makes it hard for me’ - Grant on Simper’s impactful cameo

On Simper, head coach Grant said: “I have to say it’s tough picking a team at the moment. It was a really good moment for him [Simper].

“Simps was in a difficult scenario in terms of not starting this game [the defeat against Salford] and we were always selecting a team for the next game.

“There wasn’t lots about Simps’ performance in the last fixture that meant he shouldn’t have started this one.

“So it was really nice that he was ready to come on, impact the game, get his goal and again, makes it hard for me in terms of my selection going into the next one.”

Walsall conceded within a minute of getting back on level terms and ultimately succumbed to their first league defeat of the season, after Adebola Oluwo added a fourth late on.

Simper has started six of the Saddlers’ opening 12 games in League Two and previously got off the mark with a consolation in the 6-1 drubbing against Stevenage in the EFL Trophy in September.

Although an attacking midfielder by trade, the 25-year-old has largely played on the wing under Grant, predominantly on the right.