Walsall start life without Mat Sadler against local rivals Crewe Alexandra
Walsall will start life without Mat Sadler when they travel to local rivals Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.
Sadler has been spared the pain of revisiting the scene of one of his darkest days, after Walsall took the decision to part ways with their head coach on Wednesday.
It was a decision that was expected following a dismal run of just two wins from 14 games, which had seen them plummet from the league summit into 11th.
It was at the Mornflake Stadium where Walsall suffered the heartbreak of missing out on automatic promotion, as Bradford City scored a late winner elsewhere against Fleetwood Town to pip them to the post.
The images of Sadler on his haunches in the aftermath will live long in the memory of many Walsall fans, but it will be Darren Byfield in that same dugout when the two teams meet again on the weekend.
Former Walsall striker Byfield, who worked under Sadler as first team coach since the summer of 2023, is set to remain in interim charge, with an appointment not expected until next week.
He will be tasked with reawakening Walsall from their slumber after entering freefall mode since the turn of the year.
The 1-0 defeat at Salford City on Tuesday, which proved to be Sadler's last, could be particularly costly in the play-off race.
Although Walsall remain just three points adrift of Grimsby Town in the final play-off spot, Salford were able to stretch their lead over the Saddlers to eight points.
And it's also challenging to see where the results are going to come from at this stage, especially after Sadler finished his reign with three successive defeats for the first time as boss.
Inconsistency has threatened to derail Crewe's play-off push after their past four games have heralded a pair of wins and a pair of defeats.
Similar to the Saddlers' last-gasp defeat to Notts County last weekend, Crewe blew a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 at Bristol Rovers following a late brace from Tommy Leigh.
That has left them outside of the top seven on goal difference alone and just three points ahead of Walsall in the table.
As for Walsall, Alfie Chang has returned to full training after struggling with a knee issue in recent weeks.
The midfielder has not featured since a 3-1 home defeat against Barnet on February 7 and has sat out the past five games.
Former boss Sadler revealed Chang had been nursing a knee problem last week and that he was set to be assessed heading into the weekend.
Alex Pattison also missed out in midweek due to illness and remains a doubt ahead of the Crewe game.
Jake Hollman (hamstring) and Harry Williams (Achilles) remain the only long-term absentees in the Walsall camp.
Comment Guidelines
Iconic Media encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.