Walsall’s attempt to cling on to the hope of getting the last remaining play off slot (the top five are now surely safe, other than a spectacular blow up from Southend or Forest), comes back home tomorrow night, with the visit of ancient rivals Bristol Rovers.

Richard Money may well face some selection dilemmas for this game. Ian Roper was carried off on Saturday after a somewhat less than desirable challenge from Cheltenham’s Gillespie and it remains to be seen whether he will be fit. Michael Dobson went to centre back in the game, so, presumably, if Ropes doesn’t make it, either he will play there, or either Manny Smith or Aaron Brown will come in.

The choice may well be made more difficult, however, in that we also might have problems in midfield. Lee Holmes went off injured on Saturday as well, only to be followed later by the man who had replaced him, Ishmel Demontagnac. That means that Dobson’s presence may well be needed in the middle of the park, with the possibility of Nicholls or Deeney playing on the wing, or even the left footed N’Dour, who can play wide as well.

Dicky tends to be a man who does things his own way, but, for what it’s worth, if the three are missing, I’d go for:

Ince, Weston, Gerrard, Smith or Brown, Taundry, Sonko, Dobson, Bradley, N’Dour, Mooney, Betsy.

There’s no team news from Bristol Rovers yet, as seems to be normal for teams on a Monday before a Tuesday night game. Why that should be, I never could work out! However, they did line up at Bournemouth on Saturday:

Phillips, Jacobson, Elliott, Hinton, Lescott, Pipe, Lines, Campbell, Haldane, Disley, Lambert.

Subs: Carruthers, Anthony, Williams, Rigg, Klein-Davies.

That 4 5 1 formation didn’t work, as they lost the game 1 – 2 to one of the divisional strugglers.

Predictions?

Rovers go into this one in sixteenth place in the table, a mere 5 points above the relegation zone. What’s worse, since their Cup run ended at the hands of the Baggies, unlike the improving Barnsley in the Championship, they have gone downhill, having played nine and won precisely none, although they have got five draws, including credible ones at Forest and at home to Northampton.

The worry for the Saddlers, as it has been for some time now, is whether we can take the chances we create. Despite a lot of talk about the defence, in the end, it is our lack of a consistent goal threat that has been at the heart of the problems since January. Having said that, the team are quite aware that we are drinking in the last chance saloon and I think we should have enough to bag the three points tomorrow night.