Walsall's Interim Head Coach Jon Whitney spoke to the press following Sunday afternoon's Sky Bet League 1 victory over Port Vale, and praised his team for their superb display, before looking ahead to the Play-Offs and thanking the Saddlers fans for their support, urging them to keep believing.
Jon said; “I feel immensely proud of my players, my staff and the fans. They couldn’t have done any more. I had my two boys in the crowd today and I spotted them dancing and that is a feeling you can’t explain – especially being the manager. It was incredible.
“I’m really proud of my players. I told them to control what we can control. If we hadn’t done our job and Burton had lost – that is where the frustration could have affected the play-offs. But we have won our final today and now we have qualified for an even bigger tournament.”
The Football League have now confirmed the full schedule for the Sky Bet League 1 Play-Offs, which are two-legged contests, meaning Walsall will travel to Oakwell and take on Barnsley on Saturday, 14th May (K/O: 5:30pm), with the return leg taking place at Banks's Stadium on Thursday, 19th May (K/O: 7:45pm).
Jon then went on to look ahead to the Play-Offs, which have paired the Saddlers with Barnsley, before praising Walsall's travelling support, he continued: "It’s good to get the away leg first and then hopefully we will bring it back to the Banks’s and make it a memorable game.
“We are creating history this year. The chairman came in and said this is the first time in this division we have finishing on 84 points. We are already creating bits of history but we have to go out and create more.
"Today the atmosphere was the best I have ever known at the club. We are going to build on that. We are not going to turn the boilers off. We are going to keep it simmering and then we will build it up for next week. But I am proud of everyone for staying positive and believing. Now you have to keep believing, stay positive and we will push to keep the season alive.”