Mat Sadler insists he will keep fighting after Walsall lose at home to MK Dons

Under-fire Walsall boss Mat Sadler vowed to keep swinging after another chorus of boos followed the 2-0 defeat to high-flying MK Dons in Sky Bet League Two.

The Saddlers looked tentative in the first half, with more confidence drained by Rushian Hepburn-Murphy rounding off a slick move that followed Priestley Farquharson’s error after half an hour.

The home crowd voiced their unhappiness at half-time, but saw a marked improvement in the second period, albeit without clearcut chances other than top scorer Daniel Kanu forcing Craig MacGillivray to push around his near post in the 57th minute.

Pressure built but long-range efforts proved fruitless as Paul Warne’s men sealed the deal four minutes from time when Scott Hogan’s glanced effort from a corner was blocked, only for Jon Mellish to rasp in the rebound.

Fans flocked to the exit while those remaining made their feelings known, but Sadler remained unbowed by further calls for his head amid a run of one win in 10 league matches since Boxing Day.

“I have a fantastic relationship with everyone at this club. That has maintained through good times and bad and that will continue,” he said.

“Football is a brutal business at times. You can be the perfect man for the job a month ago, all of sudden that changes but that also changes back the other way very quickly as well.

“I’ll certainly be fighting and keep believing. We will get on that front foot again and back to playing the way we have always played. You have to – otherwise what’s the point?”

Sadler also felt it was a game of fine margins.

“The mistake opened up the game. The disappointment was we didn’t react very well to that for the next 15 minutes,” he said.

“We reacted well in the second half and had more moments. We had times where we were looking for that thing that would change the momentum around here.

“I’m sure I will watch it back and think there wasn’t much in it, but we have to do more and make a choice as to whether we are happy (with that) or take the game by the scruff of the neck. That was what was missing from our performance.”

Warne was buoyant after a hard-earned win propelled the Dons back into the automatic promotion places.

“Our attention to detail was really good,” he said.

“I don’t think they had a shot on target or a corner (in the first half). That’s their big threat. We’re not as big as them physically, but we knew we had to fight for things.

“I would have preferred more than 1-0 by half-time and by the end I didn’t think 2-0 flattered us. When called upon we put bodies on the line, the three centre-halves were different gravy, Rush (Hepburn-Murphy) worked tirelessly.

“There is a real togetherness. In my opinion that is a really powerful force. Even if we hadn’t won, I wouldn’t have cried about it, we would have bounced to the next game. The lads are in a good place.”