Walsall urged to channel frustration in the 'right way' against Oldham

Lee Grant insists Walsall cannot “feel sorry for themselves” following the frustration of their draw at Swindon Town on the weekend, as he urged them to “move on” ahead of the visit of Oldham Athletic on Tuesday.

Walsall remain unbeaten after 10 games in League Two, but have drawn seven in the process, including in each of their last three.

Grant was disappointed by the officiating at the County Ground, after Aaron Pressley had a goal ruled out - despite his effort crossing the line - and Tai Sodje was denied a penalty after Connor Ripley caught him with a late challenge.

But Grant has refused to dwell on those incidents and has tasked his team with channelling that frustration in the right way against Oldham.

“It stings but we’ve got to channel that energy in the right way,” head coach Grant said.

“The players know they’ve gone above and beyond to win a game in terms of the level of performance, energy and output.

“They’ve scored good goals and one has been ruled out incorrectly. We can’t lick our wounds and feel sorry for ourselves for too long.

“We just can’t and it’s not my mentality to do that. The group can feel frustrated for a few hours, but we’ve just got too much to think about.

“And we’ve got too many important games and too many big moments to be concerned with. So we have to move on.”

Although the sheer amount of draws are beginning to undermine the achievement of an unbeaten start, Grant has praised the spirit of his group, after they came from behind to draw for the third successive game.

“We’re such a together group. I think one of the key aspects of it is that they really like each other,” he continued.

“They like being in each other’s company, they like working hard for each other and they keep going for each other.

“This wasn’t one of those: let’s comeback and fight to the death type of performances [in the draw at Swindon].

“We played really well, we were better and we’ve somehow not won the game.

“I don’t think it’s through any fault of our own though. A different feeling to Tranmere and Fleetwood, where we fight and scrap to get a point.

“This one, we’ve done more than enough for three points. I feel like it’s our best performance.”

Tai Sodje scored the equaliser at Swindon after netting his first two goals for the club in the EFL Trophy earlier in the week.

James Furlong, who also impressed against Fulham under-21s, was rewarded with his league debut from the bench in Wiltshire.

And Grant feels both can serve as an inspiration to others who’re battling to break into the team.

“James [Furlong] is pushing and fighting. That’s got to be the motto for the group.

“If you’re not in the team and you want to be, then keep fighting and pushing.

“I’m not going to hand anything to anybody, but James is a good example of sticking with it, fighting and trying to look for his opportunity. So he’s heading in the right direction.”