Walsall Head Coach Mat Sadler was keen to highlight the good progress that has been made over the 2023/24 season but stressed the hard work will continue to ensure the team evolves and improves next season.
The Saddlers finished 11th in Sky Bet League Two, the club’s highest finish in the division since relegation to the fourth tier in 2019.
Sadler is aiming to kick on and build on the foundations that have been put down this season.
While he is focused on coming back stronger next season, The Head Coach admitted he was frustrated with how the season finished at AFC Wimbledon.
“We went into the game (on Saturday) knowing there was that glimmer of light and we spoke about that during the week to want to make sure that we do our part of the job and that’s what we wanted to do,” Sadler said.
“It was evident when it felt like that wasn’t going to happen, I didn’t get the reaction I wanted from the lads so that’s the frustration.
“We’ve progressed the club this season, we’ve moved things on but we still want to be better and we get the opportunity to stew on that for the next couple of months.
“I have to be reflective on what’s been a good season on the whole. When we’re very good, we’re a very good team but where we have to be better moving into the next season is when those not so good days, which every team will have, we have to come out on the right side on those days and that has to be how we evolve and move forward to achieve what we know we can do and what we feel we should do.
“There are loads of positives from the season and we go into the off season positive of how we want to make it better next season and that will be my job – to make things better for next season, to improve on what we’ve done, what we’ve built on next season in terms of the recruitment that we’ve kept together for next season and now it’s up to me to piece together those improvements because as I say, we’ve moved things on and the aim is to move things on further.”
As well as the positives on the pitch this season, Sadler also wanted to highlight the magnificent support he and the players have had from the supporters with 1,211 making the trip to South London, the eighth time over 1000 Saddlers fans have travelled to an away game.
“The support (on Saturday) was outstanding,” Sadler commented.
“1200+ supporters at a game we knew was going to be tough for us to fall on the right side of things in terms of the outcome we all wanted league position wise but that support was unwavering and part of my job at the start of all this was trying to bring that all together and we’re doing that.
“Moments like Saturday, it’s sobering and we want more positive notes than we have than these ones and that’s my task going into the summer.”
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