A quick glance at the League Two table only tells the glass-half-full version of Walsall’s campaign – the form table telling another tale entirely.
It’s a nice cushion, meaning a return to League One beckons after six years way, a feat which would mark their first promotion since 2006-07.
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“It seemed everything was going our way, and now it’s almost ‘well of course’, we’ve found a way to make being top of the league as Walsall as possible,” Tom Lines, co-host of One Pod Beyond podcast, tells The i Paper.
“If we’d had the same set of results in a different order, we’d be absolutely fine with being two points clear of second and eight clear of fourth.
Walsall’s season reads like two different teams or campaigns, with their run of five defeats, four draws and two wins in their last 11 an almost unthinkable follow-up to the 16-match unbeaten run, which ended with nine straight wins to move them 12 points clear of second in January.
Striker Nathan Lowe started the season at Walsall on loan from Stoke City, and by mid-January the 19-year-old was the League Two joint top-scorer with 15 goals.
No surprise then, that Walsall have since lost their title as English football’s top scorers - their 65 league goals now third behind Championship leaders Leeds United (72) and Premier League champions-elect Liverpool (69) - as well as the League Two team with the most shots, where they have been overtaken by Doncaster Rovers.
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“It seems mad doesn’t it, a kid who was 18 when he joined. The system Sadler devised is high-energy, and Lowe led from the front, he was a brilliant finisher who allowed us to defend high up the pitch.
"Lowe’s influence wasn’t just goals, it was his energy and pressing.
“Without that high intensity and superb finishing, any team is going to struggle. There’s no doubt we’re less creative.”
Walsall head to Bromley on Thursday night ahead of a crucial hat-trick of fixtures: at home to AFC Wimbledon (fourth), away to Doncaster, and at home to Port Vale (sixth).
Forest Green Rovers endured a similar League Two campaign in 2021-22, a 19-match unbeaten run between October and February putting them on the cusp of League One for the first time in their history.
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The fear though is that Walsall follow Tranmere Rovers’ footsteps.
“At one stage we needed 25 points from 22 games probably, and now we’re struggling to get that – which is an indictment of the second half of the season,” Lines says.
"Nobody expected us to be in the top seven, never mind first, so the club clearly need credit. It would just be such a shame if that was squandered by not getting over the line.”
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