Walsall vs Chesterfield - preview: Mat Sadler hails 'starters and finishers' approach

Sadler has seemingly struck a balance with his 'starters and finishers' approach, with the likes of Courtney Clarke, Ryan Finnigan and Albert Adomah having a strong influence off the bench in recent weeks. 

The Saddlers had a strong success rate from the bench in the early stages of last season, with Jack Earing and George Hall picking up the baton in midfield, and Danny Johnson offering a goal scoring threat.  

They further underlined their strength in depth by making 11 changes for their 3-1 win at Shrewsbury Town in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night. 

That has enabled Sadler to keep everybody fresh and engaged, but the Walsall boss believes the strength of his bench has equipped him with an array of options to deal with different scenarios in games. 

"What I've been particularly impressed with is the impact from the bench, especially in the first six games," Sadler said.

"We've had some really strong performances from our finishers, as we call them, and we need to have that. 

"It's important that we're able to change things around whether that's through injury or tactically. 

"That's the beauty of the squad and we've got a squad that we can do that with. It meant we were able to show different sides to us against MK Dons because we were under the cosh for large periods. 

"You're going to have to do that against the best teams in the division and I thought we defended our box incredibly well, particularly in the final stages."

The midweek win also provided Sadler with the perfect platform to experiment with Courtney Clarke starting at right wing-back and finishing in midfield, while Ronan Maher played the full 90 minutes at left wing-back. 

Jid Okeke also made his debut in Shropshire following his deadline day loan switch from Stockport County and particularly caught eye of Sadler in the dugout. 

"I thought Jid came on magnificently and he was great. It was exciting to see from him and that enabled Courtney Clarke to be more central," he continued. 

"It felt like a really strong second half performance in particular. So once again, the finishers came on and did a really good job there. 

"It's a really good sign, which goes into what I'm saying about the squad. 

"We didn't have Rico Richards in that game either so we'll just keep trying to move that forward."

Evan Weir will be available after recovering from a knock, although Priestley Farquharson and Jamie Jellis (both groin) are both injury doubts. 

Dan Cox, who has been called up for Wales under-21s for the latest international break, will also be unavailable. 

Meanwhile, Mason Hancock remains a long-term absentee after he was recently ruled out for "four to six months" with a dislocated knee.