‘Not playing is difficult’ - thriving Alfie Chang reflects on time at Walsall

The 22-year-old netted his first goal in senior football on Sunday in the 2-0 play-off first leg win over Chesterfield at the SMH Group Stadium - a thumping strike from distance. 

The Birmingham City loanee has not had it all his way since arriving at Walsall on deadline day back in February. 

Chang had to wait until the end of March for his first Saddlers appearance - that came in the 0-0 draw at Gillingham. 

And it was not until the clash at Newport on April 21 that he started a League Two match for the first time at his new club. 

He said: "Coming in and not playing is difficult, but now I'm playing regular games. You get better each game, and you feel like you're adapting to not only this team, but the league as well, because it's very different.

"The play-offs are a good opportunity to go and play in front of people, on TV and achieve something in a season. It's such a good opportunity. You win two games and you are playing at Wembley - it's a lot of players' dreams to do that. 

"If all goes well and we get to Wembley and we manage to go up, I'm sure there'll be a lot of celebrations.

“We've got experienced players that have been in this position before, and there are a lot of young players that haven't, so we've got a good mix.

“For the young players, it's invaluable experience for later on in their careers. Personally, I'm embracing it, it's exciting.”

Chang has had a difficult couple of years. The youngster did not play for almost 18 months after picking up a serious knee injury in Blues training back in August 2023. 

He did not return from that injury until January this year when he came on as a 72nd-minute substitute in Blues’ FA Cup clash against Lincoln. 

Chang is slowly building himself back up, and at the moment he is still to play 90 minutes since he returned from his long stint on the sidelines - he came off midway through the second half on Sunday with cramp. 

But overall, he is delighted to be back doing what he loves regularly again. 

"It's class,” he continued. “I haven't started consecutive games for probably a couple of years now, so that feeling of regular football for me is so important, and it's making me feel like a proper player again.

"Obviously, I've had cramp a couple of times in the most recent games, but that's normal, having been out for so long. 

"It's a fitness thing and I'm slowly building up and hopefully push for a 90 soon.”

And speaking about his boss, Mat Sadler, ahead of their crucial second leg against the Spireites on Friday, Chang said: “I think he's so good at speaking to players individually and as a group to make sure everyone's good and feeling good for the game.

“We prepare a lot tactically on the pitch, so giving us that confidence that we are a good team and we know what we're doing is naturally going to make us at ease.”