Walsall debrief: Saddlers keep Birmingham’s big bucks at bay in EFL Trophy draw
A sterling Walsall showing kept Birmingham’s big bucks at bay as they earned a creditable 1-1 draw in their EFL Trophy opener at St Andrew’s.
Charlie Lakin opened his goal scoring account for Walsall against his former club after a supreme run and cutback from Connor Barrett in the 48th minute.
Birmingham eventually broke Walsall’s resolve when Christoph Klarer equalised six minutes from time, although Mat Sadler’s men grabbed the extra bonus point with a 4-3 shoot-out victory.
Harry’s Masterclass
Birmingham may have made eight changes but still fielded a front-line comprising of League One record signing Jay Stansfield and last season’s golden boot winner Alfie May, who has scored over 20 league goals in each of his last three seasons.
The team as a whole defended solidly throughout but it was the performance of Harry Williams that really caught the eye.
Williams was a solid force in the centre of the back-three following his first half introduction against Cheltenham on Saturday and he consolidated that with a phenomenal performance at St Andrew’s.
