Mat Sadler: I want to make it third time lucky with Walsall at Wembley

Walsall have played at the national stadium just once previously - losing 2-0 against Bristol City in the EFL Trophy final under Dean Smith. 

Sadler also played there twice with Shrewsbury Town in 2018 but was on the losing side on both occasions. 

Now, the Walsall boss will be looking to surpass his old mentor Smith and end that losing trend by making it 'third time lucky' in the dugout in the League Two play-off final. 

"It was a great experience building into it and it's a great place to play football," Sadler recalled. 

"I'm not going to downplay that because there's a reason why people want to play at Wembley. 

"There's songs written about it. For me, I want to be on the right side of the result there, and have that experience, because I've had a couple of experiences that you don't want. 

"I'd love the third time lucky to be the experience that you do want." 

Sadler made both of his Wembley appearances in a matter of months. Shrewsbury were beaten 1-0 by Lincoln City in the EFL Trophy final and fell to a 2-1 defeat against Rotherham United in the League One play-off final several weeks later. 

The latter still brought up special memories for him. He was captain on the day, just as he had been in their two-legged semi-final against Charlton Athletic, and played his part in Shrewsbury's equaliser with an exquisite no-look pass for Alex Rodman to score. 

Of course Sadler didn't mention it, he has and never will be one to indulge in his own success. 

When asked why he didn't, Sadler preferred to stay coy, although he did admit that he secretly shows his son on a regular basis. 

"I am [humble about it]," he reveals. "When I'm with my son, I've shown him that many times. That was great and it was very well worked by Paul Hurst." 

As for his family, that has always been the driving force behind everything for Sadler. 

Eventually football boils down to memories and Sadler was able to share a special moment with his family in the aftermath of Walsall's famous win over Chesterfield last Friday. 

There was an incredible outpouring of emotion after the final whistle and Sadler enjoyed a warm embrace with his close family and friends pitch-side. 

Not only is his family a primary source of motivation, but they also offer perspective whenever football turns into the all-consuming world that it naturally becomes. 

That doesn't mean that Sadler and his family have not experienced the tough moments together. He is quick to remember that and always tries to never lose sight of that. 

"I'm very lucky that my family are there anyway," he said with a proud smile. "They're always there for me and travel to all the games. 

"So I'm very fortunate to have a very close family, a wife that is unwavering in her support and kids that are along with the journey. 

"My son is football mad, the girls are sick of it, but they're all there together. You speak about pride, of course it's your family, and they're the most important people to you. 

"That's how it should always be. I think we all get wrapped up in football at times and we've always got things going on in our heads, but I always come back to what they need from me. 

"I try to make sure that that's at the epicentre of my world, the same as my wife, because that's the most important thing to us."

Sadler the family man and his familial values are mirrored in his approach to management. Despite only turning 40 earlier this year, there is an almost father-like relationship with many of his players. 

But that is something that comes naturally to him. Even before his spell in the dugout, Sadler helped Liam Gordon through his horrific leg injury which he suffered shortly after his arrival from Bolton Wanderers during Michael Flynn's reign in 2023. 

That same patience and care has been shown with the likes of George Hall and Alfie Chang and Walsall are now reaping the reward, with both playing a key role during the run-in. 

He might have his critics, but Sadler has always tried to cultivate a strong team ethic, and that bond makes this trip to Wembley feels extra special. 

"It still falls under the same thing [heading to Wembley] for sure, but it definitely has a different side to it because obviously playing is different from managing," he explained. 

"It is different when you're managing and you have the pride of feeling and thinking about everyone else rather than just yourself. 

"Having that feeling is something that I love to experience. It'll be a different experience for certain, all under the same sort of emotion."

And Sadler has called on his players to embrace the pre-match butterflies. 

"I don't want people not to have those nerves or those butterflies because I think they're good for you and I'll be having the same. 

"That's to be expected. It's a wonderful occasion being there but the most important thing is that we play the game and play the moments in the game." 

This season has not been easy for Sadler. Walsall exceeded expectations during the first half of the campaign to race into a 12-point lead at the League Two summit in January. 

Sadler was hailed as a hero, and rightly so. Walsall had reached the top in imperious fashion, going 16 games without defeat, and setting a club record nine-match winning streak in the process. 

Then came the collapse, which started with a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Bradford City at Valley Parade. 

Walsall went on to collect just three wins from their final 21 games and even went 13 games without a single victory at one stage. 

They spent 119 days at the top but fell out of the automatic promotion places altogether at the death. But as if this crazy season needn't be any more dramatic, they were dealt one final twist of the knife on the last day. 

Despite beating Crewe Alexandra 1-0 at Gresty Road, Bradford City pipped them to the post with a late winner in the final seconds against Fleetwood Town. 

It was a gut-wrenching climax to the regular campaign but Sadler still reflects on it positively. 

"I hope I do, I really do [have another season like this] because there have been some incredible moments," he insists. 

"We've had such amazing experiences together. I see stuff written and I think: wow, that is so far off the mark in terms of the way I view the season, the way I view the group and the togetherness that we have in the camp. 

"The players should feel pride for what they've done for this football club. I hope I do because that will mean we've had a cracking season if we do that." 

As for what went wrong in the second half of the season, Sadler has his own conclusions, and feels perhaps the results were not always a fair reflections of some of the performances themselves. 

"Stats are stats, but there have been some interesting ones that I've been told during that run. From the middle of January, we had an xG against of eight but conceded 24, whereas our xG scored was 74 over the season but we scored 75," he noted.

"Those things are normally quite aligned so I think there were a lot of things that didn't go our way during the second half of the season.

"I talk about those stats because I think they're important and a lot of football clubs base a hell of a lot on stats in this day and age. 

"That was a really surprising one that there was such a disparity, which which again showed how many goals had gone against us that had an element of fortune in them." 

One of the key reference points whenever anyone attempts to explain their demise is the departure of Nathan Lowe. 

The 19-year-old plundered 15 goals in League Two and three more in cup competitions during his goal-laden loan spell during the first half of the campaign. 

But Sadler also pointed to the long-term injuries of Jack Earing and Hall and the unsettling impact that that had on the team. 

Hall was beginning to rediscover his groove prior to his hamstring setback in December and Earing had played a key role in a number of games, mainly from the bench. 

"Of course, you can throw into the mix that we had some bad injuries. George [Hall] being one of them, Jack Earing being another and one of our attacking players [Lowe] went," he continued.

"You take that out of your team and then there is a resettling period. For sure, that maybe affected a little bit of confidence but first and foremost there was a real element of fortunes that went against us. 

"The Lowe departure was late doors when that happened. Obviously we knew there was a recall window but there were another 60 goals scored from other players who were very effective for us. 

"The biggest thing for me during that spell was that Nathan left and George and Jack got injured. So a lot of our creative players during that period were unable to play. 

"Those two [Hall and Earing] are perhaps ones that people don't really talk about in terms of injuries." 

Walsall have undergone a remarkable revival since returning to winning ways on the final day against Crewe. 

They've looked back to themselves over the two legs against Chesterfield, showing the type of efficiency and ruthlessness which was symptomatic of their early season success. 

The change in system from a 3-1-4-2 to a 3-4-2-1 has been instrumental in helping Walsall become a solid unit out of possession once again. 

They had just 26 per cent of the ball in the first leg and 24 in the return leg at Bescot but were clinical with the chances that they had. 

That was the backbone of the strong results during the first half of the campaign, but there has been a real shift among the fan base during the play-off campaign. 

Patience was beginning to wear thin towards the end of the campaign, and understandably so, but Bescot attracted a bumper crowd of 9,500 for the second leg. 

Now, over 15,000 will be making the trip to the capital for the historic occasion on Bank Holiday Monday, and Sadler feels the collective spirit among the supporters and the team has and will continue to be a powerful force.

"The players that we have, and it's all through the players, they show a collective desire to do whatever it takes for the football club and for their teammates," he concluded.

"When the supporters see that, then that goes half the way towards it. We're in a world of football where squads change quite regularly and we've tried to keep it as consistent as we can. 

"We want to give the supporters a clear identity of what they're looking towards. We haven't had much success over the last 20 years so it's clear that the supporters are desperate to get behind something. 

"So when they've got a group of players and staff that are all pulling together then they've jumped and pulled together with that. 

"And we knew we needed to bring them on the journey too if we were going to have any success and they've done that. They've really stuck together and hung on in there with us and Friday night was an incredible outpouring from them. 

"Obviously now we go into the weekend where ticket wise it's been an incredible uptake from them."