'Gutted' Walsall chief to start planning for next season after Wembley heartbreak

The Saddlers’ hopes of a promotion which at one point of the campaign looked assured were extinguished with a 1-0 League Two play-off final defeat to AFC Wimbledon.

Walsall had been 15 points clear in the automatic promotion hopes in January but a run of just three wins in 21 matches saw them fall away in the final months and they could not grasp their second chance through the play-offs.

Boycott, founder of the club’s ownership group Trivela, declined to give any assurances over the future of head coach Mat Sadler when asked the question by ITV an hour after the final whistle.

He said: “I am not going to get into any stuff about next year for now, we are still processing.

“At the end of the day, we are going to bed tonight and get up tomorrow and then go all-in for getting ready for next year.

“We are going to pick ourselves up and go again.”

Asked about his own emotions after the game, Boycott replied: “We’re gutted. Everyone around the club will be. I have been in there with everyone (in the dressing room) for the last half-an-hour.

“Everyone, from supporters to players, all of us are absolutely gutted.

“What did I say to them? Honestly, nothing. I have put my arms round them and given them all a hug but there is not much to say at a moment like this.”

Sadler, who has been in charge for the past two seasons, insisted the club had moved forward this season despite the disappointment at falling short of promotion.

He said: “We certainly have moved the club forward. I think that is undoubted. Clearly, we had a good lead in the mid-season and we lost some really good players. 

“The only thing for me is can we recruit a bit better at times? But that is not very easy as well and I am not going to go through all the things which happened in that January window but that part was not to be. 

“We certainly have moved the club forward and I won’t be swayed at all with that. We have created many, many happy memories and good memories and put smiles on people’s faces.

“For me, they will be lifelong memories. We did not quite have enough to see the job through but we will go again and we will come back and go again next year.”