Walsall head coach Mat Sadler praised the “character and desire” shown by his players as they hit back to draw 2-2 at Chesterfield after finding themselves 2-0 down after 20 minutes.
Will Grigg and Dilan Markanday scored to put Chesterfield in control before Daniel Kanu and Albert Adomah struck for the visitors to claim a point and remain four points ahead of their promotion rivals.
Sadler said: “You know when you come here, first and foremost, you’re going to have moments where it’s difficult. They’re a really good team, play some fantastic football, got some real quality in the squad.
“I thought for the opening 10 minutes, we had to suffer a little bit. But during those moments of suffering, you want to try and not concede during those moments. So we were gutted to concede that early goal, which just puts us on that back foot again.
“I thought we settled right down into the game and that just gives us a tough ask when the second goal goes in.
“It’s clear I’m going to talk about the fight and the heart and the character and the desire. There was bravery on the ball, there was a willingness to run hard and make sure that we stuck in the game and then we got our rewards for that.
“We were probably disappointed not to win the game in the end. In the main, it felt like we were the team controlling the game in the second half, felt like we were the team with the legs and the energy.
“I have to be pleased with the point in the end.”
Chesterfield coach Gary Roberts was critical of how his team managed the game.
He said: “I thought for 35 or 40 minutes it was possibly the best we’ve played. I just felt like we were a team right off the front foot.
“I felt we lost our real habits of how to keep the ball, how to manage the game. You’re 40 minutes into the game or whatever it was, 2-0 up against a stubborn team like Walsall who we feared going 1-0 behind against them.
“Once they get a goal up, it’s always tough against Walsall because they can make it really difficult. We’ve got in the best position you can be in against Walsall.
“We were turning the ball over a little bit too much for them to come up the pitch. And then the goal comes and the tails are up. I thought the momentum changed in the game then.
“Second half we turned the ball over too much and our distances between our units were far too big, which plays into Walsall’s hands. Really, really disappointed with how we let control go of the game.”
