'Touch of class' - Walsall manager praises Chesterfield and 'incredible person' Paul Cook after phone call
Chesterfield showed a ‘touch of class’ in being gracious in defeat, says Walsall manager Mat Sadler.
Walsall led 2-0 from the first leg of the play-off semi-final and they finished the job with a 2-1 victory at the Bescot Stadium on Friday night to book their place in the final at Wembley on May 26.
"Out of possession we were tested by a fantastic team,” Sadler said. “I think they are brilliant. I love the players that they have got and their manager is an incredible person. Their staff, a special mention to them because they came in and spoke to our guys afterwards and showed a real touch of class about them.”
Sadler also revealed that Paul Cook got in touch with him recently to offer him some advice when the Saddlers were going through a difficult period when Sadler himself was under pressure after losing top spot and slipping into the play-offs.
"People won’t know this but Paul phoned me a couple of weeks ago and expressed that support because we were going through a tough spell and you have people like that who have been around long enough and seen everything, and I thank him for that. He is an incredible manager and an incredible person.”
As for the game, it remained 0-0 until the last 10 minutes when Walsall took the lead. Armando Dobra equalised in stoppage time but Levi Amantchi headed a second for the hosts, although the tie was already over by then.
Sadler said: ““Probably pride is the biggest emotion. We saw the outpouring of emotion at the end there. This group don’t give up, they work so hard. I am proud of everybody and that real togetherness that we showed.
"In the first 10-15 minutes I thought we were electric. I thought we got in behind really well. We thought that people would maybe be attracted to Jamille (Matt) a little bit and that space might open up for Jamie (Jellis) and George (Hall) which it did. We got in a couple of times and looked a real threat. It was a really good start. My only thing was, probably after that, when we won it back, we maybe tried to do that a couple of times too often.”