Walsall manager Mat Sadler praises 'resilience' against 'brilliant team' Chesterfield

The Saddlers won 2-0 at the SMH Group Stadium in the first leg of the play-off semi-final on Sunday and they will now be clear favorites to get the job done in the second game on Friday and book their place in the final at Wembley.

“I thought it was a really good game,” he said. “I know what threats they have got, they are a really good team. They have got really good offensive players and I think they showed that at times. They are a brilliant team and they throw caution to the wind at times. They have got a top manager so you know you are going to have to dig in and suffer at times and I think there were those spells in the game.

"I thought it was a really good performance from us. We were resilient when we needed to be resilient, we defended as a team and I thought they were two very well-worked goals and thoroughly deserved. It was a proper team performance, we were connected from front to back, but we have got to go again on Friday night."

A penalty from Taylor Allen and a drilled shot from Alfie Chang in the first-half give Walsall a nice cushion going into the reverse clash but Chesterfield will know if they can score the first goal on Friday then it will be very much ‘game on.’

And as much as Sadler was pleased with his side’s display, he remained grounded after the full-time whistle, knowing full well it is only half-time in the tie, although they will have home advantage in the second leg and have the backing of most inside the Bescot Stadium.

He added: "I thought in the first 10-15 minutes we were a little bit edgy but once we settled down we started to understand what the game was giving us. We are halfway through it and we now get ready for what has the makings of another fantastic game on Friday night. Our celebrations were not wild because we know there is a second leg. We are pleased with what we did today but it is halfway through.”