Mat Sadler has overriding emotion following Leicester penalty defeat
Mat Sadler says he's "proud of everyone connected" with Walsall after they came agonisingly close to conquering Leicester City at Bescot in the EFL Cup third round.
Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward denied Taylor Allen, David Okagbue and Liam Gordon from the spot in the shoot-out after the score finished goalless in 90 minutes.
Walsall had a pair of golden opportunities to pull off an upset when Charlie Lakin was denied from point-blank range and Albert Adomah dragged wide in either half.
The Saddlers produced a superb performance as they came to within a whisker of pulling off an upset and Sadler insists the overriding emotion at the end of the night was "pride".
He said: "There were large parts, especially in the second half where they were extremely rattled and we were looking like the team that would go on and get that opportunity which didn't quite fall right for us.
"Albert (Adomah) had a real good one right at the start of the second half, obviously Charlie (Lakin) came close in the first half. I felt like it was going to happen, it felt like one of those nights.
"It just didn't quite drop, although the referee dropped which stopped one of our attacks. I just feel pride, we kept a clean sheet, really solid defensively and limited them to not many opportunities at all.
"You know when you come up against such good players, you know you're going to have to be really well organised, which we were, and you're going to have to work extremely hard.
"I'm just proud of everyone connected to the club tonight."
Connor Barrett produced another top drawer performance as he continues to go from strength to strength and Harry Williams was once again a powerhouse in the heart of defence.
But Sadler rightfully wanted to focus on the collective, with each player to a man helping create a special night.
"You look across the team. We are a young, energetic team. That's what we are and that's what we want," he continued.
"There's a lot of local players that we have in the group. There's a lot of them playing with that pride and they all want to work extremely hard for the club and for each most importantly," he continued.
"I could go through every player, they were incredible tonight."
