Back at the beginning of October two goals by Pawel Abbott and a third by Junior Mendes were enough to see Huddersfield beat The Saddlers 3-1 at the Galpharm. Our goal was a brilliant headed own goal by Nathan Clarke. The Saddlers can’t afford any slip ups this weekend, however, following the abject performance on Tuesday at Colchester, the departure of coach Frank Barlow and the “will he won’t he” episode of Paul Merson’s resignation. Their record at Bescot Stadium isn’t the best, or the worst. In ten visits they have won once, with 5 draws and 4 defeats. This time they are on the back of a win over Bournemouth looking for two wins in a row (incredibly) for the first time this season.

For Walsall, Jorge Leitao is a doubt, having limped off on Tuesday night with a twisted ankle. Matt Fryatt may be available, as he trained on Thursday, but his hamstring problem could mean he isn’t risked. Standing has a similar problem, but not as serious, and may well figure, while Ian Roper is highly unlikely to be available, although he may well feature in the Wrexham game. Richard McKinney is, of course, still out.
Taiwo Atieno’s return from Rochdale means he may well be on the bench at least, given the shortages up front, and the recall of Kris Taylor from his loan suggests he may start – although who knows where! This week’s news on Toni Nhleko means we are unlikely to see him until the summer, if then.
New loan signing from Southampton Andrew Surman will, presumably, be bound to play some part in the proceedings and may well start. If so, it will be interesting to see if it is on the wing in a 4 4 2 formation, or whether it is as a striker in the usual 4 3 1 2.

For Huddersfield, midfielders Holdsworth and Carss are out for at least the next month, both with hernia problems. Defenders Mirfin and McCombe will both be available for Saturday, returning from injury, although Mirfin was ill this week and missed the reserve match he was scheduled to play in. Nathan Clarke (scorer of our goal at their place) is probably still out of the defence but his brother, Tom, retains his place. Midfielder Chris Brandon, who terrorised us in the away game, will be back from his suspension.

The danger men are, certainly, Pawel Abbott, their leading scorer on 19 goals this season, and Sheffield United’s on loan Luke Beckett, who has made an impressive start to his spell at Huddersfield, scoring twice against Bournemouth last week. On the bench should also be the always dangerous Junior Mendes.

Huddersfield go into the game in 13th place, as they attempt to consolidate their promotion via the play offs last season. Despite mid table respectability, the Manager has come under some pressure from the fans recently, though. That, presumably, is on the strength of their home record, as away from the newly renamed Galpharm Stadium they look slightly better than that, for a newly promoted team:

Played 14 Won 4 Drawn 4 Lost 6 For 22 Against 23 Points 16 - After all, if we had that record, we’d be up with Bradford and Bournemouth on the fringe of the play off race.

Prediction? I really haven’t got a clue. I originally went for a close home win, but the shambles of Tuesday night suggests that the team will either bounce back and win well, or capitulate again. As I can’t make my mind up, I’ll go with my original instinct when I did the Prediction League last weekend. 2 – 1 to the Saddlers. Fingers crossed. Or should I go 1 – 2 to Huddersfield? No, 2 –1 Saddlers – definitely – honest. Oh I don’t know . . . . Tell you what, if Surman is any good and we go 4 4 2 or 4 4 1 1, I’ll say home win . . no doubt . . . I think.