Walsall boss Matt Sadler said that his side’s 4-0 victory over Swindon Town was all the more impressive due to the quality of Town’s players.

The Saddlers made it three wins from three to start their season as they tore Swindon apart at the Nigel Eady County Ground to leave Mark Kennedy’s side winless in their opening three matches.

Despite the dismantling of Town on their own patch, Saddler said that the result was especially positive because of the quality Swindon have, with players who could get into any side in League Two.

 

 

He said: “The three strikers that began the second half, [Paul] Glatzel, [Aaron] Drinnan and Harry Smith, they would get into most teams in this division, as would loads of the other boys.

“Ollie Clarke was one of the best midfielders in the division last season at Mansfield, he’s a fantastic player, and I could go through their team with players that played at a high level.

“So there's certainly no mean feat to play the way we did today. But to do that, we had to be resilient.

“When we needed to be resilient, we defended, we blocked. I just felt like we looked after each other when we needed to do that as well, which was really pleasing for me to see. It was just a proper team performance.”

The Walsall boss added that he felt it was among the best performances under him with how the Saddlers played as a unit.

Speaking to club media, he said: “It probably matches the Grimsby one we had last year, the lads were just fantastic and every bit of it was how we wanted it to look.

“As soon as we got our noses in front we carried on and carried on and that was really pleasing to see.

“We knew against Swindon the way that they play, they have really good experience in areas, so we had to be right on top of it.

“Defensively we were outstanding but that only comes from the hard work in front of them, so it was a proper team performance.

“We knew that with Harry Smith you are always going to have a threat, especially from set plays, so we had to be on it and he [Tommy Simkin] came and caught and settled the game down and showed maturity beyond his years.

“It was a really good team performance and I am delighted we kept it to a zero.”