Walsall midfielder Danny Guthrie has spoken ahead of this weekend's League Two clash with Mansfield Town and insisted the team shouldn't dwell on Tuesday’s defeat to Cambridge United.
Guthrie, who has made thirty-six appearances since he joined the club in the summer of 2019, believes the squad must now focus upon this weekend's clash with the struggling Stags, who are yet to secure victory in League Two so far this season.
The Saddlers will head into this weekend's clash on the back of their first defeat since February as Cambridge netted twice from the penalty spot to bring the Reds' unbeaten run to an end during a frustrating evening at Banks’s Stadium.
Well-travelled Guthrie, who took the captains armband in the absence of James Clarke on in midweek, also called upon the team to take the game to Mansfield at the weekend as the Saddlers look to get back amongst the points.
Speaking via the club's official website, Danny said; "The boys have got to take a lot of confidence in what they’ve done since February and not let this fester for as long as it needs to.
"It was a defeat we were always going to lose somewhere along the line and it’s happened.
"We’ve conceded the first goal at home a few times this season and we’ve managed to find a way, tonight we didn’t but I think on Saturday we’ve got to come out and put it on them early doors. They’re struggling and we need to make it difficult for them."
The former Liverpool, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers man went on to admit the Saddlers must make more of their time on the ball if they are to take anything from their upcoming run of games.
The team secured the lion's share of the ball against Cambridge on Tuesday evening but were unable to get themselves back into the game as a string of set pieces went to waste.
Danny added; "We’re not winning enough first balls and then when we recycle it, we’ve got to put teams under pressure from the set pieces.
"We’ve got one of the best headers in the league in Dan Scarr so we’ve got to look at the delivery and the set up and find a way to make them count because we could have been out there a long time and not scored."