Defence is the best attack

They say that attack is the best defence but in Walsall’s world defence is the best attack. Our defenders can’t stop scoring goals at the moment. James Clarke had two screamers lately, and yesterday Dan Scarr tapped in a goal from close range to give Walsall a 1-0 victory against Southampton U-21 in the EFL Trophy.

When talking to League One and Two football fans, this cup is probably the least liked competition because of the introduction of the U-21 teams which I think shouldn’t be in this competition.

The few things that stuck into my mind from yesterday though was firstly the miss from Josh Gordon when he came one and one against their keeper. As a striker, this is the sort of chances you should put away ten times out of ten. That is the difference between becoming a club legend or a squad player. Put this chances away consistently, and the fans will forever remember you as the player that won you matches. The second memorable moment is when Kory Roberts made his comeback late in stoppage time. He only got one minute of playing time, but what a feeling to see him back again after that horrendous injury he suffered during the 2018 pre-season. It has taken him more or less 14 months to recover and reports I’ve read states he’s been very determined to come back and put down a lot of hard work. If he comes back to the form he had before the injury, our other central defenders will have to work hard to keep their place i in the starting eleven.

We are winning matches now, which is good for confidence, and there is a winning culture that starts to grow within the team. That is probably the most important to take from this less important cup match, another win, and another clean sheet. There is still much work to do in the attacking stages. We can’t rely on our defenders to get our much-needed goals. It is a good sign we can get goals from all over the place not only from the strikers, but we need to see more from our strikers. They need to finish off their chances with much higher quality than they have done so far.