In the latest of his regular columns Scott Brotherton takes a look at Walsall's first choice goalkeeper Richard O'Donnell, and considers the confidence that can be gained from having a consistent and capable pair of hands between the sticks.
With the goals drying up and the Tom Bradshaw's injury niggles continuing, a solid defence is becoming more vital than ever.
The settled back four of Purkiss, Downing, Chambers and Taylor is always improving. The stats speak volumes - less than a goal a game conceded in League One and only five league goals leaked at home.
But it's certainly nice to have the safety blanket of Richard O'Donnell when things do go wrong.
The Saddlers stopper has cemented his place in the starting eleven. After an impressive opening season he continues to establish himself as one of the best keepers in the league.
At the start of 2013/14 it was nice to actually have a regular goalkeeper in place. In the previous year the David Grof debacle led to us having on-loan keepers for the majority of the season.
Karl Darlow, Aaron McCarey, Ian McLoughlin and Sam Johnstone all went through the revolving door as emergency replacements. The situation was a shambles.
O'Donnell came to the Banks's with a career that had yet to take off. Kept out of the side at Chesterfield and earlier at his beloved Sheffield Wednesday, Richard was shipped out to numerous clubs on loan.
Such was the stop-start nature of his career, he has played almost as many games in his one-and-a-bit seasons at Walsall as he did in the previous seven years while on the books of the Owls and the Spireites.
As with all players it comes down to confidence. When O'Donnell started his Saddlers career he wasn't the character we see now. There were a few fumbles here and there, as well as instances of coming for the ball and not getting it.
But each game he became more and more assured. Now he claims crosses and catches with real authority, complimenting his shot-stopping ability which was never in question.
It all comes with his long run in the team. O'Donnell also now seems like one of the main leaders on the pitch for Walsall, rallying the troops before set-pieces and always making his voice heard. You can see he is comfortable and feels he belongs in the number one jersey.
Not that he is relaxing too much though with Craig MacGillivray waiting in the wings. Anyone who has seen clips of the 21-year-old in action for Harrogate Town last season knows he certainly a talent, and more than capable of playing in League One. It's a shame for the youngster that he has O'Donnell in front of him in the pecking order.
At 26, Richard has plenty of years left yet and we can hope most of those are with the Saddlers. The last top-notch goalkeeper who lasted more than two years with us was Clayton Ince, and a certain Jimmy Walker before him.
So it's nice to have another Mr Reliable between the sticks. If Richard O'Donnell can get mentioned in the same breath as those two he won't have done bad at all.
By: Scott Brotherton.