Mat Sadler hails Walsall’s ‘real togetherness’ in point at Fleetwood

Walsall boss Mat Sadler came away from Fleetwood satisfied with a point from their 1-1 draw.

The Saddlers fell behind in the 16th minute when Ryan Graydon headed in for Fleetwood but they claimed a deserved point through Daniel Kanu, who levelled midway through the first half.

In howling winds and on a tricky surface, the sides put on an entertaining game and were good value for a point each.

“I think that’s a really solid away point,” said Sadler.

“We could have won it, we had a couple of chances, but I thought they had some scrambles around as well so I have to be fair and think that’s not a bad point both ways, especially having gone 1-0 down.

“I’ve said repeatedly, we’re going to have to win games in so many different ways and we’re going to have to pick up points in so many different ways.

“Today was another example of that because it was a tough day, tough weather and the wind was swirling everywhere. I don’t think you quite appreciate it unless you’re on the pitch.

“Maybe we relied on long throws a little bit too much but when you come here and it’s swirling around like that and you get chances to put the ball in their box, you just want to take them because it’s a tough situation to defend.

“It shows a real togetherness in the way we went about things and I was particularly impressed and pleased with the finishers that came on as well, they really impacted the game.

“It’s a really pleasing point on the road. We’re a long way from home, so seeing a thousand fans at Fleetwood away, it’s unbelievable and hopefully they’ve seen a team that reflected the hard work that they put in.”

Though his side had let a lead slip on home turf, Fleetwood manager Pete Wild was equally satisfied with their share of the points.

“It was a real solid League Two affair, two teams going hard at it,” he said.

“I thought we started the brighter, we looked sharper and we were moving the ball well. We took a deserved lead and I was pleased with how we dealt with them because we knew they were going to be direct.

“We stopped them at source and the things that we’d worked on on the training ground we were pleased with.

“We were playing around them and everything we’d talked about on the training ground was coming off, so we were happy.

“Then we started dropping deeper and deeper and they were starting to win headers.

“The goal is a really rubbish one from our perspective, we have got to challenge better firstly and track them better secondly, so it’s a really poor goal to give away.

“Walsall were in the ascendancy going towards half-time so I’d say the first half was half us and half them.

“In the second half I thought we played higher, played in their half and had a lot of ball but we didn’t affect the goalkeeper enough to deserve the win.

“I think both teams cancelled each other out. Walsall are very good at what they do, they’ll be up there this season so it’s a solid point on the board for us.”