Walsall boss Mat Sadler warned his side they cannot afford to take anything for granted after opening up a six-point lead at the top of League Two.
Goals from Nathan Lowe and Albert Adomah fired the Saddlers to a comfortable 2-0 victory on the road at 10-man Harrogate, earning them a fourth consecutive league win and extending their unbeaten run to 11 matches.
But, while he acknowledged things are going well at the moment, Sadler was keen to stress that his players need to keep their foot on the gas.
“We’ve just got to keep going,” he said. “We have got a settled team, a settled way of playing, and everyone knows their jobs and roles.
“That’s what we try to do and what we want to carry on doing – keep our heads down and don’t take anything for granted.”
Walsall had to adapt to extremely challenging conditions in North Yorkshire, as Wetherby Road was battered by strong winds, then driving rain later in the game.
But they handled the weather much better than their hosts and, according to their manager, should have won by a more handsome margin after Harrogate had Josh March sent off in the first half for two quickfire bookings.
“The conditions were awful, but fair play to the lads, they didn’t use it as an excuse,” Sadler added. “If anything, they used it as a tool to be more focused and concentrated.
“With that wind and rain, it can be difficult, so getting the first goal settles everything down.
“The sending-off puts the advantage firmly in our court. The only surprise is that there weren’t more goals because we had loads of great chances.”
Harrogate chief Simon Weaver was naturally disappointed to see his out-of-form team slump to a fourth straight loss, but does not feel that too much should be read into the result, particularly given the performance of referee Sam Mulhall.
“It’s not a devastating blow to lose in this manner, when things have conspired against us,” he said.
“We had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside, again. I’ve seen the coverage and it wasn’t offside.
“We then had a man sent off, which was unjust to say the least – both of the yellow cards.
“And it was farcical with the weather, especially in the second half where it seemed to get worse. We had the wind with us in the first half and I thought that we started well, we tried to get hold of the ball against the league’s best at the minute.
“Then, the goals that we conceded were perfectly executed by Walsall, and sometimes you can’t really point the blame. Fine finishes from their centre-forwards were the difference.”
