Walsall v Leicester: Saddlers ready to face their Premier League challenge

The Saddlers are also defending a six-match winning streak on home soil across all competitions, including the shootout win over Exeter, and Sadler is relishing the challenge of putting that to the test against top-flight opponents.

He said: “It’ll certainly be a test. These guys that play in the Premier League now are incredibly gifted players.

“They’re the best of the best. For us, we want to challenge ourselves against that and we’re looking forward to it.”

Walsall have made an excellent start to the season on all fronts – collecting eight wins in 11 games across all competitions, and suffering just two defeats in the process.

Meanwhile, Leicester are yet to taste victory in the Premier League under newly-appointed boss Steve Cooper, although they did comfortably cruise to a 4-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers in the previous round.

The Saddlers last reached the fourth round during the late Jan Sorensen’s solitary season in 1997-98, and have only done so three times in total, which included a famous run to the semi-finals under club legend Alan Buckley in 1983-84.

A bumper crowd is expected to greet the Foxes under the lights at Bescot and Sadler hopes the home faithful will once again serve as the 12th man.

“We’ve earned the right for that tie because of what we’ve done in previous rounds,” the Walsall boss continued. “It’s a good one to look forward to. I’m desperate for the supporters to come together and hopefully there’s as many as possible in the stadium to create that real cauldron of an atmosphere.

“We’re certainly going to need them. Now, we’ll dust ourselves down and get ready for what will be a really tough game.”

Albert Adomah will make his 700th professional appearance if he features, with Sadler finding yet another superlative to describe the 36-year-old.

“Albert is a top pro. Benjamin Button – the older he gets, the younger he looks,” Sadler remarked with a smile.

Elsewhere, Donervon Daniels (knee), Brandon Comley (leg) and George Hall (lower back) remain doubts, although Daniels and Comley were involved in the warm-up on Saturday.

Josh Gordon was scheduled to see a specialist yesterday after facing a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.

The former Leicester Under-23s forward is not expected to be available, along with Oisin McEntee (calf) and long-term absentee Priestley Farquharson (thigh).