Walsall v Fleetwood Town – Fishy

I’ve been asked to cover the FA Cup replay tonight and I suspect the boys from the Bescot will be quaking in their boots before kick-off as they fear a real battering.

Fleetwood – a.k.a. the Cod Army - have come up from the Blue Square North division and have taken the Premier League by storm under former West Brom and Blackpool legend Micky Mellon.

Walsall, by contrast, look as though they are in self-destruct mode if recent results are anything to go by and Chris Hutchings job must be under threat. He has something like a 30% win ratio and we’ve all seen football managers walk with better records than that.

Then again this could be the turning point in Walsall’s season if they beat the minnows from the North West to set up a mouth-watering 2nd round tie against, er, Torquay.

Devon is a great place to visit in April and August, but I can’t see the Walsall players busting a gut to make sure of a long trip to the south coast in a couple of weeks.

This will be my first trip of the season to the Bescot. In fact the first visit for nearly one year and I must admit I’ve missed the place. It’s always very welcoming and the fans are a fair lot who – given their size - probably should be cheering on the club as it presses for promotion rather than propping up League One.

From a selfish point of view I hope that the game is done and dusted in 90 minutes. The Press Box at the Bescot is exposed to the elements and at the moment those elements aren’t reporter friendly. It’s definitely going to be a first outing of the season for the thermal underwear – not a nice thought I know – and, if the match goes to extra time, expect to hear plenty of cursing coming from yours truly.

N.B. Full report to come tomorrow.