"No excuses" - Sam Hornby issues honest Walsall admission after seven-match winless run

Hornby made his first league start in over 10 months at the expense of the suspended Myles Roberts, as the Saddlers failed to find the net for the fifth time in nine league games in 2026.

'There is no excuses from us'

"I'm a never too high, never too low kind of character. People just probably think I'm a bit miserable at times," goalkeeper Hornby said. 

"But I'm just flatline whether I'm in or out of the team. That is probably a strength of mine, but we need to make sure that we're all like that. 

"We can't be too high when we're winning games, and we're not too low when we're not picking up results because professional football is so up and down.

"It's a case of us experienced lads getting around everyone and we do. It's a brilliant group and the club have done fantastic to recruit good people. 

"Now it's just down to us all as players to use what the staff has given us because they work tirelessly prior to games with the video analysts. 

"We get everything and there is no excuses from us. We just need to replicate that on a game day."

Priestley Farquharson was at fault for MK Dons' opener when his misplaced pass presented Rushian Hepburn-Murphy with a close-range finish into the bottom corner after 30 minutes. 

Jon Mellish was able to get goal side of substitute Harrison Burke to make it 2-0 with four minutes left on the clock.

Sadler admitted that mistakes have proven costly in recent games, but Hornby insists that it's how you bounce back from them that counts.

Hornby on bouncing back from mistakes

He added: "It builds your character. You've got to puff your chest out and if you make a mistake then so what? 

"I made one on Wednesday night against Grimsby. I hold my hands up to that, but then I made a save to my left after that, and that was me putting it behind me. 

"There are going to be mistakes out there on any pitch, in any game of football. We're not going to go through a game without mistakes. 

"So it's like, right it's happened, it's done now. Let's park it and move on to the next thing with positivity."

The latest defeat prompted fresh calls for Mat Sadler's sacking as pressure continues to intensify on the Walsall boss. 

But Hornby feels the management team are giving the players every chance to succeed, and that it is down to himself and his teammates to turn the tide.

Time to rise to expectations

"I'm not going to lie, I've probably been on a worse run at other clubs," he continued.

"We've built this expectation of now being up the division. We've got to live with that, roll our sleeves up and just get on with it. 

"Look, we can't hide away from what the last month has been. It's there, it's on paper and it's evident to anyone. 

"But from our point of view, the staff are working tirelessly, putting on brilliant sessions and doing everything they can. 

"We've just got to take that for 90 minutes on a Saturday, or a Tuesday night, to use that knowledge to get some results."