Sadler accuses Walsall of giving Crewe ‘leg up’ in draw

Mat Sadler accused his Walsall players of giving Crewe a “leg up” to come back into the game after they let a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 League Two draw at Gresty Road.

The Saddlers were thwarted by a stoppage-time leveller from Alex midfielder Jack Powell, whose cross evaded everyone and sailed into the far corner of the net.

Earlier the west midlanders had looked impressive when building a lead through a first-minute effort from Freddie Draper and Isaac Hutchinson’s superb strike before the half-hour mark.

Elliott Nevitt hit back for Crewe on the hour, but Sadler’s side appeared to have quelled the home response and were heading for their second win of the campaign before they were shocked by Powell’s late intervention.

“I thought for 60 minutes we were brilliant and we really understood our game plan. We should have been three or four up comfortably,” said Sadler.

“But Crewe have been 2-0 down twice before this season and we gave them the opportunity to come back again.

“The frustrating thing for me is that we were comfortable, but we gave them a leg up to get back into the game when they hadn’t deserved it. Yet even after their first goal, we dampened things down and the crowd were having a go at them.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t deal with a ball into the box and we have to improve on that. We had some fantastic pieces of play and we showed we are a proper team, a really good unit.

“Isaac drove it forward and Ryan Stirk controlled the midfield while Freddie and Danny Johnson were a handful.”

Crewe boss Lee Bell said: “I thought we tried to play but we had too many below par in the first half. Elliott’s goal got us back in it and he took it really well.

“I’m giving up on the added time now and it seems they’ve (the referees) been told to cut back on it.

“I thought we’d get longer than that and with that extra time we might have been able to push for a winner.

“We’ve got a small squad and we are a couple short in areas we want to strengthen. But every professional at the club will get their opportunity.

“We have to carry on going in the right direction and we will use the free week to prepare well for the next one.”