Wimbledon arrived on the back of 8 straight defeat, with a new goalkeeper who only signed yesterday and played defender  Nico Herzig upfront. 

It turned out to be a relatively unentertaining game between two sides who looked like they were struggling for confidence. 

Walsall put the Don's under pressure early on, winning a corner and keeping the ball inside the Wimbledon half. Our first chance of the game fell to Kris Taylor who had a half chance with a 25 yard shot from the right flank.

Loanee Keith Andrews also sent an effort wide. He failed to make a decent connection with the ball after it fell to him on the edge of the Wimbledon box. 

The Saddlers should have opened the scoring on 20 minutes when a powerful Jorge Leitao run saw him skip past 2 defenders, chip it over another then chip the ball over the bar from 8 yards out. It would have been better for Leitao to fire the ball directly towards the goal rather than chipping the keeper because it wasn't the best of angles. 

We always looked the most likely to score, and 5 minutes later we did. Neil Emblen capitalised on some sloppy Wimbledon defending, dispossessed the Wimbledon defender, caught their back line by surprise, raced through on goal and hit a low shot in to the bottom right hand corner of Bevans goal from 10 yards out. 

The Saddlers were getting lots of possession, and were hitting a lot of long balls up to Emblen who Birch who won more headers than they lost during the game. We should have gone in more than one goal up at half time, as the Wimbledon defence panicked every time we had the ball in or around their box.

Birch could have made it two just after Emblen's goal, connecting well with a Taylor cross, but firing his volley high and wide.  

HT - Walsall 1-0 Wimbledon

The second half saw the Saddlers lose their grip on the game as it turned in to a scrappy affair. Jorge Leitao went off injured just after half time and was replaced by Paul Merson who was given a good reception by the fans.

Other changes included Gary Birch being replaced by Matty Fryatt, prompting ironic cheers from the crowd who had been unimpressed by Birch's lack of effort during the game. Meanwhile Kris Taylor was replaced by Pedro Matias 

There were a few more chances for Walsall during the second half, but none as clear cut as Leitao's had been after 20 minutes. 

Andrews, Taylor and Merson all registered efforts on goal but it was the Don's who looked most like scoring. 

Jarrett who was brought on at half time put in a lively performance, as he was keen to attack the Walsall defence and put balls in to the box. 

The best Wimbledon chances of the game came late on as Puncheon and Herzig tested Jim Walker. 

The introduction of Fryatt and Merson lifted the spirits of the crowd. Merson played lots of nice one-twos and looked keen to create, while Fryatt worked hard down the right flank.

It was a disappointing second half showing from the Saddlers, but they got the all important 3 points. Walsall will have to raise their game on Tuesday.

FT - Walsall 1-0 Wimbledon