Dean Keates Disappointed by Walsall's Poor Decision Making Dean Keates Disappointed by Walsall's Poor Decision Making

Dean Keates Disappointed by Walsall's Poor Decision Making

Walsall manager Dean Keates has spoken to the press following Saturday's disappointing draw with Sunderland, which saw the Saddlers let slip a two-goal lead to take a share of the spoils, and admitted that his team must start to make better decisions if they are to play at the highest level of the game.
The Saddlers went in to a two goal lead as Josh Gordon and Josh Ginnelly struck during the opening stages of the second-half but Keates, who was clearly frustrated, believes his side made enough chances to score three, maybe even four goals during the match but failed to remain solid at the back as the Black Cats ultimately got the match back on level terms.

Dean, who was speaking via the Express & Star, said; "Decision making in football is massive – the best players make the best decisions. If they don’t learn, if they don’t take on the information, if they don’t make better decisions, they won’t go higher in their career.

"Week-in, week-out we are talking about the same things. For long periods against Sunderland we played well but we should have been more clinical. We created opportunities but didn’t go on and get that third or even a fourth goal.

"You look at their goals, we have got bodies around it, but it is too easy – that is where we need to do better. And at the other end we need to take more and be more consistent with our own chances."

Sunderland, who went down to ten men as midfielder Max Power was sent off midway through the first-half, scored via Aiden McGeady and Lynden Gooch as they staged a sweeping comeback to send their 3000+ fans back to the Stadium of Light with a point in their pocket.

While Keates was ultimately disappointed by the result he insisted that he and his side will be up for Tuesday evening's clash with Portsmouth, the manager continued; "The players were down, they were disappointed after the game but that is because of the situation they were in – we were 2-0 up against 10-men.

"There were a lot of positive and we see it as a point gained. For long periods of the game we played good football. We were bright and we were sharp. We will be ready for Portsmouth. We will be underdogs again but we will go down there and do our best."
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