Walsall vs Colchester - Match Preview
The Saddlers head down south to the JobServe Community Stadium in a frightful fight for three points, looking for a quick turnaround following their first loss of the season last time out against Salford.
Grant expecting tough challenge against the Cowley Brothers
The Walsall boss was quick to heap the praise on the experienced duo ahead of today's match, after spending last Saturday watching Colchester live at Northampton.
Unfortunately for Cowley, his side would go on to lose 2-0 at Sixfields.
This did not stop the Walsall boss praising the experience and determination of his opposite number in his pre-match interview, saying "you just don't count out a Manager with as much experience as Danny. They're going to have something up their sleeve and i'm convinced they will have their group highly motivated and ready to respond after a difficult result."
Grant was also quick to disregard talk of another winning run, promoting the idea that his side "really go after every game" and in past fixtures this season where 3 points seemed to unbelievably escape the Saddlers, Grant noted his team showed "tremendous character."
This fixture against the U's gives Grant's men an opportunity to show this tremendous character and hopefully bounce back with all three points.
Cowley Reliant on Home Form against Walsall
Danny Cowley was quick to state that his side have good home form, coming into the match against the Saddlers, stating that "Walsall were the only unbeaten side in the EFL prior to Mondays game, but we also have good home form...after 4 out of the last 5 away games it's great to be at home."
Cowley was encouraged by the level of performances his side has put in at home, stating that they are "unbeaten in our last three at home, we've drawn..."
Clearly his ambition for the season is evident and he will hope to use that as motivation, whereas the Saddlers will see an opportunity to end an unbeaten home run just days after their own unbeaten run was ended.
Past Results indicate a Halloween Stalemate.
Heading into this game, both Colchester and the Saddlers have been quite good at drawing their respective games, with Walsall picking up 7 draws while Colchester have picked up 6.
While Walsall's performances have shown a side that could have easily won games, but was perhaps unlucky in certain games, the Cowley's seem to have put together a side that without mistakes and lucky late equalisers, would be up at the top end of the table with the Saddlers.
The Walsall attitude of this season so far seems to have been a "if you cant win it, dont lose it" and it will certainly be interesting to see how they fare against a side who are still unbeaten at home.
Injuries, Suspension and Squad Selection.
While it was a brave performance against Salford under the lights on Monday, one thing that was evident to the watching fans was the missing Elicha Ahui, who served a 1-game ban following his red card against Oldham.
This was shown clearly by the fact that 47% of Walsall's attacking play was concentrated down the left hand side, occupied by Mason Hancock and Reece Smith.
While the left side of the pitch showed skill and motivation when going forward, the right hand side seemed to sit back, with Declan Skura filling in at right-back.
It appears obvious that Elicha will return to the starting XI and if past lineups are anything to go off, it will be Ryan Leak who returns to the bench in place of Ahui.
Injuries however are not something Grant is troubled by, as his only "short term" injury, Roman Dixon, is apparently progressing well in training and hopefully makes an injury-free start to his Saddlers career sooner rather than later.
Long term injuries such as Harry Williams, Alex Pattison and Antony Evans continue their recoveries with everyones best wishes.
Problem Players - Colchester United.
For the avid readers of Saddlers Social, they will know what this segment is, but for those that are new, allow me to explain again.
This is the part of every preview I do where I pick out 1 player from each team that I believe will cause problems for the opposition, and first up is the home side, Colchester United.
I selected Ellis Iandolo. With his experience in the division becoming invaluable to the Cowley's, plus a standout performance against Northampton where he had the most defensive contributions and seemed to keep the scoreline down as much as possible, its clear that wether it is Smith, Sodje, Pressley or any other attacker for Walsall coming up against him, Iandolo will be hard to beat and might be the difference between another home draw or better for the U's.
Problem Player - Walsall FC - Mason Hancock.
It's seemingly a battle of the left-backs this week, as both sides seem to have great quality in this position. Hancock was integral down the left-hand side against Salford, and will be looking to recreate some of that skill against Colchester. A growing partnership with Reece Smith seems to be doing the 23-year old wonders, and the Saddlers faithful are enjoying what it brings to the side.
Hancock had the most passes of any Walsall man in their 4-2 loss, and has taken to Grant's system incredibly well. As the season progresses it will be interesting to see if Hancock can stay fit, but if he can, I have no doubt that he will be integral to any plans the Boss has of getting out of League Two at his first attempt.
Match Prediction- Colchester United 2-2 Walsall FC.
Ben Smith.
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