Well, off we go to Griffin Park tomorrow before we finally get to see what Bescot looks like again the week after. The question is, will the Manager still be in charge by then, as he has himself told the Express and Star that he doesn’t know whether he’ll still be in a job come the Scunthorpe game?

Walsall even have problems for tomorrow. Westwood is doubtful with a groin strain picked up on Tuesday night and we still don’t know if Roper will be fit, although the club are expecting he might have recovered from his injury. Scott Dann has recovered from his illness and is available, but defensive options do look very limited.

In midfield, Merson and Wrack are still out, of course, and Devlin is rated as only 50/50, but old “new” boy Dean Keates will be raring to go.

Up front, all of our admittedly limited resources are available, so expect Barrowman to play some part.

I’d expect a 4 5 1, along the lines of:

Oakes, Pead, Gerrard, Roper or Dann or Westwood, Fox, Wright or James, Leary, Smith, Demontagnac or Nicholls, James or Barrowman or Constable.

The bench is likely to be Keates, Barrowman or Constable, Gilmartin, Osborn (or Dann, if Westwood makes it), Standing or Nicholls, if (Ishy plays).

Really, the line up is almost anyone’s guess, though, as all the iffs and buts above show, as with a lack of defensive cover and the embarrassment of riches in central midfield it means that, quite frankly, no one knows what our best line up is.

What of Brentford?

Well, they’ve lost DJ Harvey (yes, I know it’s Campbell really) to Blues, but let’s face it, he only came on against us at home as a sub and they’d been giving us enough trouble without him.

Match report: http://upthesaddlers.com/wp/archives/2005/09/28/walsall-vs-brentford-report/

Injury victims Darren Prattley and Alex Rhodes are now back fully fit for the Bees and Manager Martin Allen has said that it’s like getting two new players in for them Their only injuries are long term ones to defender Oli Skulason and midfielder Junior Lewis.

With Campbell having left for pastures new, their main danger will probably be the “big man, little man” partnership of the dangerous Isiah Rankin and one time Saddlers target Lloyd Owusu. Let’s hope Roper is fit to help deal with the 6 foot 2 inch, 14 stone Owusu. It may, of course, be even more problematical if they decide to play new signing from Posh, the 6 feet 1 inch Callum Willock as well!

Predictions? Well, Brentford are sixth in the table at the moment (and, of course, our target if we were to reach the play offs!) with 48 points (13 more than us), with a game in hand. Their home record isn’t that brilliant, however, considering their position, being only very slightly better than ours:

Played 15 Won 7 Drawn 5 Lost 3 Goals For 22 Goals Against 22 Points 26

After the frankly poor performance on Tuesday night, this looks like an absolutely nailed on home banker. However, this is Walsall and we will probably go and get a most improbable away win. Mind you, if we do lose, this is one of the teams I don’t mind losing to, as they are, sensibly, run by their supporters trust.