The Voice - Match preview Walsall vs Bradford City Tuesday 7th March @ 7:45pm

I was there too. Didn’t Andy Cook get sent off for them that day? Or was that another time?
I’m sure also they came back from 3-0 mainly because Zeli Ishmail tore us a new one in the last 10 mins. I might be wrong as we’ve played Walsall sooooooo many times

 

Cook got sent off went they beat us 3.2 in what turned out to be Hopkins last match. Feb 2019.

 

Ah yeah.
And it might have been Oztumer I was thinking of that turned the game for them not Zeli Ishmail

 

Looking well forward to this, I'm much more confident for this game than todays

 

I don’t think Walsall have anything up front to hurt us but it’s whether we impose ourselves on the game in their half and stay on the front foot.
If we do, we’ll win

 

We just need to carry on and win on Tuesday.
A 4-0 win to take 3rd doesn't really matter at this stage but for Stevenage to see us level on points with them when they were 14 points ahead of us as recently at 3pm on the 11th February suggests they will be feeling the pressure.

It looked like a handful of us fighting for 3rd with Stevenage home and dry, but if anything they could end up outside the play offs if results continue.

 

Only thing that worries me about this match is Walsall haven't won in 11 league matches and have drawn 7 of the last 10. Then again, it's away from home. 0.4 win.

 

This sort of stat normally worries me but how we currently set up as a team I have zero worries about any away game, It's just the home games that get me nervous.

 

I know what you are saying but before today I was more confident about Tuesday than I was about today.

We don't have a bad record at Walsall, it's not like Bristol Rovers when we never seem to win. Stockport and Stevenage dropped points today. On Tuesday we could go as high as 3rd, but worse case scenario is we end up in 6th. These are the kind of games we need to be winning if we are seriously looking beyond the playoffs.

 

I know we keep saying this but a win Tuesday would be insanely huge, as it would give us a bit of a cushion between us and the team just outside the playoffs, enabling us to play with possibly a bit more freedom and less pressure.

 

Each game is like this now. A win Tuesday and we're only outside the autos on goal difference (barring a huge win).

Think Hughes or one of the players mentioned it, but the team very much seems to be in 'ticking the games off ' mode now. They all seem properly focused on the job in hand and though I still have little confidence in the performances we produce, this season is starting to have that 'feeling'.

 

Fully agree and when games like today bring highly talented players like Banks and Chapman back into the fold makes you realise how well kitted up for the challenge ahead we are.

 

I’m not a massive fan of Chapman but I think a fully fit Banks could play a huge part in us challenging for the top 3 places.

 

Fully agree Chapman has been a bit of a let down for sure, but living tother side of the hills for a long time and witnessing his talent he's definitely a player i'd rather have on our bench than the oppositions.

 

Chapman has been played out of position nearly all season. I think we will see he is far better in his natural position on the wing

 

I think tiredness was a bit of a problem yesterday especially with the older players like Smallwood and Clayton. Whilst I think they are integral to the way we play I think a rest on Tuesday may be in order

 

Look at how key Tuesday could be by looking at the fixtures and the things that pop out are.

Walsall have had a busy fixture list recently so they aren't going into this game rested. They have played a similar number of games in the last 4 weeks as we have.

Newport are away on Tuesday night meaning they don't have a free week before our game next Saturday so in theory they will be as leggy as us come Saturday.

Stockport have a very difficult game against Gillingham who are currently in a false position. Like us they would no doubt have benefitted playing them when they should originally have done rather than now.

This is a very winnable game and one that could put us right in the mix for the autos.

Playing Walsall now, rather than the end of Jan when we should have done seems to benefit us more than them.

 

The way our defense is at the moment we have to have confidence going to places like Walsall,Newport, Stubbs has been immense IMO (forget who it was) who looked to have put their lad in on a clear run to goal Stubbs is far from the fastest but positioned himself so as the Colchester player had to beat him to get in the best position for a shot which he didn't because of Stubbs. when he came to our club the way our two CD were playing I thought of the two it would be Platt who got dropped but they seem to be putting together a better partnership together than Platt & Critchlow, great to see the lad Critchlow jump on the pitch to celebrate both late goals, hopefully giving him a promotion under his belt before returning to Huddersfield.