Walsall Football Club defender Ben Purkiss has spoken to the press ahead of this evening's Johnstone's Paint Trophy clash with Preston North End, and has discussed the teams' need to start off strong and look to bag the games' opening goal.
Speaking to the Express & Star, Ben said; “If we score first on Tuesday, it will make a huge difference. I played for York against Luton in the play-offs and we were the underdogs.
“We won the first leg 1-0 at our place and we scored the first goal in the second leg. We had to weather the storm for 15 minutes and managed to score - it took the wind out of their sails.
“Similarly, I played in the FA Trophy in a two-legged semi-final against Telford and we won the first leg 2-0.
“Going back to or place it was important for us to start at a tempo. Again we got the first goal and again you could see their shoulders slump.
“It’s a massive night for the club and everyone is aware of that. We have to go out and treat it as a normal game. We have to take the game to them - we can’t just sit back.
“If you do that you see what happened last weekend at Colchester. We invited pressure and if someone has that much concentrated pressure, they will end up creating a chance."
SOURCE EXPRESS & STAR