Walsall will be back in action this weekend as they make their way to West Sussex as they're set to take on Scott Lindsey's Crawley Town.MATCH INFORMATION
The match will take place at the Red Devils' Broadfield Stadium on Saturday, 11th October, with kick-off scheduled for 3.00pm.
NEWS & VIEWS
Walsall have won six of their last seven Sky Bey League Two games and, despite reaching this weekend's outing on the back of a narrow defeat to Northampton Town in the EFL Trophy, will be buoyant ahead of kick-off.
Last weekend's win over Bristol Rovers saw the Saddlers not only maintain their unbeaten run but demonstrate their strength and determination as, despite falling behind to Fabrizio Cavegn's fourth goal in as many games, they bagged two goals of their own to take all three points.
An Aaron Pressley brace, his third and fourth goals in a Saddlers shirt, were welcome relief as the team had spent much of the match huffing and puffing, with a distance lack of cutting edge in the final third.
This weekend will see the team take on struggling opposition, but they can't afford to take the Red Devils lightly, as there's a plethora of teams just waiting to capitalise upon each and every setback.
TEAM NEWS
On the injury front, both Harrison Burke and Daniel Kanu will be assessed ahead of kick-off, whilst defenders Mason Hancock, Harry Williams, and Elicha Ahui, who all remain sidelined with long-term injuries.
THE OPPOSITION
Crawley Town sit 21st in the table ahead of kick-off, and will also reach the match on the back of an EFL Trophy defeat as they 2-1 to Leyton Orient on Tuesday evening.
Their most recent league game took place last weekend and saw them defeated 3-1 by Cambridge United, their third defeat in as many league games.
Town have won just one home league game so far this season — a statistic that should give the Saddlers plenty of belief.
FACTFILE: CRAWLEY TOWN
Nickname: The Red Devils
Founded: 1896
Ground: Broadfield Stadium
Manager: Scott Lindsey
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Walsall and Crawley Town have met on just seventeen previous occasions, and it's the Saddlers who hold a small overall lead, having won on five previous occasions, compared to the Red Devils' four.
There have also been eight draws over the history of the fixture. This history began at the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday, 17th November 2012, as the two sides met in a League One clash which would see four goals scored but would ultimately end all-square.
Febian Brandy had given Walsall the lead with fourteen minutes on the clock, but Billy Clarke levelled the scores some eight minutes later.
The Saddlers re-took the lead via Ashley Hemmings with sixteen minutes of normal time remaining, only for Jonathan Forte to level the scores with eighty-one minutes played.
THE LAST TIME WE MET
The most recent meeting also took place at the Red Devils' Braodfield Stadium on Tuesday, 13th February 2024, and saw the spoils shared as the match ended one-all.
The first-half was a competitive, though hardly an action packed affair, with the first goal of the game arriving via the spot as, after Jack Earing was felled by Jay Williams, Isaac Hutchinson stepped up and slammed the ball home.
Crawley went on to level the scores around twenty-minutes into the second forty-five, as Liam Kelly slotted the ball home following Danilo Orsi-Dadamo's short pass.
MATCH OFFICIALS
The EFL has confirmed that Alan Young who is based in Cambridgeshire will take charge of the match with Conall Bartlett and Michael Webb being named as assistant referees, whilst Andrew Hickman has been selected as Fourth Official.