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PRE-MATCH VIEWS
After drawing their last six league games, Michael Flynn and his stagnant Saddlers will reach this weekend's match in dire need of a return to winning ways. Not least to quieten some of the more vocal naysayers in the stands.
Though our hopes of securing a place in the end-of-season Play-Off's are still very much alive - only ten points separate Walsall from the top seven - it's not difficult to see some of the faithful questioning why they put themselves through it on a weekly basis.
Often lacking firepower at the front and occasionally sloppy at the back, the Saddlers simply haven't got going since 2022 turned into 2023.
Winning just once since the calendars changed, it's testament to just how badly some of the teams battling it out at the bottom have been as we retain a seventeen-point advantage over 23rd-placed Crawley Town.
Of course, a continuation of this latest spell of indifference, and it'll not be too long before the relegation battle becomes much more than something we read about in the Sunday papers. Though you'd still probably back the team to make it into the race for promotion in before early May.
With that being said, we'd fell a little more confident about that if some of the draws are turned into wins, and, with a few games in hand in our pocket, are still very much behind Michael and the team. Bring on the Bluebirds!
OPPOSITION NEWS
Opponents Barrow have won two of their last three and arrive at the match on the back of a one-all draw with Salford City and a match which saw former Saddler Theo Vassell net a second-half own goal to secure the point for the Bluebirds.
FORM IN FIVE
Here is how the Saddlers and their opponents Barrow have fared in their last five Sky Bet League Two games.
WALSALL
|
BARROW |
DDDDD
| LLWWD
|
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Saddlers and Bluebirds have met on thirty-seven previous occasions and it's Walsall who hold a narrow overall lead having won fourteen times compared to Barrow's twelve.
There have also been a total of eleven draws over the history of the fixture, a history which began at Fellows Park on Saturday, 4th February 1922 as the two sides faced-off in a Division Three (North) clash which saw the Saddlers secure the win by three-goals-to-one.
THE LAST TIME WE MET
The most recent meeting was a League Two clash which took place at the SO Legal Stadium on Tuesday, 16th August 2022 and saw the home side secure all three points as Tyrell Warren and Sam McClelland scored two early goals before Danny Johnson halved the deficit shortly after half-time.
MATCH OFFICIALS
The EFL has confirmed that Lee Swabey, who is based in Devon, will be the man in the middle, whilst Danny Gratton and Gary Hilton have been named assistant referees. Danny Jarvis will act as Fourth Official.
GAMES OFFICIATED
|
25
|
YELLOW
CARDS |
RED
CARDS |
99
| 3
|
PENALTIES AWARDED
|
13
|
CATCH THE MATCH
If you're not planning on going to the game you can catch the match via the club's in-house service - iFollow Walsall - which takes you through the highs and lows of every Saddlers game.
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