Good look to Ishmel Demontagnac this evening as he follows in the footsteps of Matty Fryatt making his England Under 19 bow at Bescot 7.30.

Holland are the visitors, just as they were when Bescot was a chosen venue in the 1993 Under 18 Championships when we saw the likes of Robbie Fowler and Julian Joachim star in wins over Holland and Spain.

The official site is reporting strong ticket sales with 3 stands already sold out, tickets being available for the new stand upper tier at £5 and £1 concessions.

Walsall has a strong tradition of England youth internationals with Fellows Park used as the venue for the first ever England schoolboy game, so let’s hope for a good atmosphere and plenty of support for the Walsall winger who has been in good form for The Saddlers of late.

The Saddlers battled back from a goal down to maintain their unbeaten start to the season after a difficult afternoon at Underhill.

Lining up with a defensive looking midfield of Fox Dobson, Keates, and Pead Walsall created very little in the first half, and played second fiddle to the hosts who took the lead when Hendon’s ball into the box caused mayhem allowing Dean Sinclair to volley home from six yards.

Barnet continued to use the conditions to greater effect and would have been disappointed to only lead by one goal at the break, Walsall having failed to trouble the home keeper in any way during the opening half.

However as we have seen Richard Money isn’t shy when it comes to making positive substitutions, and with Roper struggling with an injury the Walsall boss introduced Fanguiero with Westwood reverting to centre-half and Pead to right back. With the conditions now in their favour the Saddlers dominated the opening fifteen minutes of the second half with Butler at last testing Harrison in the Barnet goal before the home keeper was beaten by Dean Keates’ deflected 57th minute shot.

The rest of the game was an open affair with the introduction of Demontagnac and Wright almost proving another Dicky Dosh masterstroke. Demon weaved past four defenders to force Harrison to save, with Wright’s follow up blocked on the line when a goal looked certain.

Wright also spurned Walsall’s other best chance to win the game late on, but defeat would have been harsh on the home side who also created plenty of chances, giving the Walsall back-four in which Ant Gerrard was outstanding an uncomfortable afternoon.

Overall therefore definitely a point gained from a banana skin of a fixture played in difficult conditions, and seven unbeaten with only three goals conceeded represents an excellent start. Still question marks over the defensive looking starting line-up, and increasingly over Hector Sam’s lack of goals.

The Saddlers remain fourth in the table, although Peterborough can leap-frog us with a win over Bury tomorrow.

Following the meltdown of the deadline-day rumour-mill its back to actual football and the first of back-to-back away games that sees us heading for what might be a deceptively tricky trip to Barnet.

A glance at the league table would suggest a fairly routine three points for The Saddlers with Barnet languishing in 17th spot, however this doesn’t tell the full story.
Underhill is never an easy place to go and the hosts are themselves unbeaten since handing Accrington their first league win four games ago.

The goals of Tresor Kandol have underpinned this impressive sequence which boasts a 3-0 demolition of Hereford in their last home game, victory at Cardiff in the Cup, and an impressive draw at Wrexham last weekend.

Barnet have also come closest to taking a point off Swindon, succumbing only to an imperious last-minute Royce Brownlie strike at The County Ground, so it won’t be easy.

As for the team-news, both Bedeau and Dobson came through 90 minutes of mid-week reserve action and figure in the squad, although Bedeau in-particular would be an unlikely starter after a month out.

The midfield options are now plentiful with Craig Pead’s recent performances suggesting he has the ability to fulfil the role of creator alongside either Keates or Dobson, while up-front it’s a close call as to which of the as yet goal-less Constable or Sam will partner Butler.

Danger men for Barnet? Obviously Kandol who was subject of a failed £150k bid from Brighton this week and also wide man Barry Cogan who has been on form of late.

This is a game where I hope we don’t just think we can turn up and breeze three points, but if the attitude and effort are right the unbeaten run should continue, so I’m going for another battling 1-0 win to us.