Match Views

GETTING HIS POINT ACROSS . . . manager Stephen Robinson

ATHLETIC manager Stephen Robinson was pleased with the effort his men put in to pick up a point on home soil:

"I think we should have come away with three points, being perfectly honest.

"We had the lion's share of the game against a really good team, who pop the ball around really well.

"It is no surprise that they were in the play-offs last season, but we created a lot of chances and I was disappointed we didn't win.

"Paul Green was excellent, as he has been in every game since he has come in, along with Peter Clarke. He gives you a good seven-and-a-half out of 10 every week.

"They leads the boys and we had a lot of tired legs out there.

"That maybe reflects where we are fitness-wise, but we dug in and even in the last 15 minutes we were still on top and forcing the play.

"We put 15 crosses into the box, so it shows that we are heading in the right direction."

Walsall manager Jon Whitney was relatively happy to get a point:

"I thought it was a fair result. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, I thought 'we can go on and win this'.

"We controlled it and had momentum. Then there was a turning point when they got a corner and that lifted their crowd a bit more, after they had made changes to go more defensive due to us having a lot of the play.

"We had Franck Moussa getting on the ball in midfield ans causing them problems and Andreas Makris looked a threat in the final third.

"All in all, I would be happy if you had said to me before the season that by the second week we would have four points from games against AFC Wimbledon and Oldham.

"Averaging two points a game means that we are on track, so I am really pleased.

"You can't control the game for 90 minutes, but when you have to dig in and put in a shift, my lads did that.

"Credit to them. It shows the team ethos that we have got and we deserved to get a point."