Walsall debrief: Saddlers keep Birmingham’s big bucks at bay in EFL Trophy draw

Birmingham eventually broke Walsall’s resolve when Christoph Klarer equalised six minutes from time, although Mat Sadler’s men grabbed the extra bonus point with a 4-3 shoot-out victory.

Harry’s Masterclass

Birmingham may have made eight changes but still fielded a front-line comprising of League One record signing Jay Stansfield and last season’s golden boot winner Alfie May, who has scored over 20 league goals in each of his last three seasons.

The team as a whole defended solidly throughout but it was the performance of Harry Williams that really caught the eye.

Williams was a solid force in the centre of the back-three following his first half introduction against Cheltenham on Saturday and he consolidated that with a phenomenal performance at St Andrew’s.

With Oisin McEntee, Priestley Farquharson and Donervon Daniels out injured, Walsall’s defensive options are fast becoming stretched, but Williams’ form further underlines the quality in depth across the back-line.

Nevertheless, another defender would help safeguard them from any further injury issues.

Challenging the big boys

Walsall have faced three League One teams in the cup (Exeter City, Huddersfield and Birmingham) so far this season and are yet to taste defeat.

The recent run in the EFL Cup has added to the special feeling building around the club and the EFL Trophy could be another way of increasing that positive momentum.

It’s still very early days but three wins in four in the league and positive results in the cup seriously bode well for the season ahead.

Barrett’s blossoming

Barrett is proving to be a very shrewd signing from non-league. He has almost seamlessly made the step-up to League Two and his performance on Tuesday night served as further evidence of both his quality and his growing confidence.

He largely frustrated Birmingham wide man Ayumu Yokoyama for the first 67 minutes and collected his third assist in two games.

The 22-year-old chopped inside to beat Brandon Khela and picked out Lakin to score, after Ronan Maher’s driving run into the box had taken Klarer out of the equation.

Hornby’s heroics

Sam Hornby’s penalty heroics to deny Paik Seung-ho and Alfie May secured an extra bonus point in the shoot-out to send Walsall into second-place in Group I.

The 29-year-old, who made his debut in the comeback victory over Huddersfield Town last week, also made key saves in normal time to thwart Paik and May.

He will be called upon between the sticks once again when Walsall travel to MK Dons on Saturday with first-choice goalkeeper Tommy Simkin representing England under-20s on international duty.