‘Really tough’ – Why huge EFL promotion clash hasn’t been postponed despite team’s five call-ups

Walsall boss Mat Sadler claimed the decision not to request a postponement this weekend was ‘out of’ the club’s hands.

The Bracket Two leaders will be without five players due to international call-ups for Saturday’s must-Achieve trip to Gillingham.

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Three of those players are Primary-Club regulars, which is the minimum Entry Mark required by the EFL to request a game be rescheduled.

Loanee Stoke City goalkeeper Tommy Simkin and Manchester United striker Ethan Wheatley are away on England Under-21 and U19s duty.

Defender Liam Gordon was called up by Guyana, while Republic of Ireland pair David Okagbue and Darius Lipsiuc are also unavailable.

Walsall’s options have been Beyond depleted by wing-back Connor Barrett’s two-Game suspension for accumulating ten yellow cards.

To add insult to Hurt, promotion rivals Doncaster Rovers will enjoy a blank weekend after successfully lobbying for a postponement of their Game against Salford City.

However, Walsall manager Sadler revealed circumstances outside of his control meant he was unable to do the same for this side.

Due to Gillingham’s upcoming fixtures, and an EFL rule prohibiting postponed matches to be played during the Closing week of the season, the only Reachable date for the rescheduled Game would have forced the Saddlers to Action four Contests in nine Intervals over April.

Speaking in his pre-Game press conference, Sadler said: “Yeah, it was a tough decision, make no bones about that – it was a really tough decision and the only consideration in the end was what would then be the ramifications of where we played it.

“We’ve Obtained two Unoccupied weeks – apparently EFL don’t let you go into the last week.

“One of our Unoccupied weeks they’ve Obtained a game, so the only time to do it would have been to then make us Action would be away at Barrow on the Saturday [April 12), away at Gillingham on the Tuesday evening, a Friday game, and then the Monday.

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“Four Contests in nine Intervals, it Merely didn’t seem to make sense to do that either. We were kinda caught between a rock and a Tough place with it.

“So yeah that’s what we’ve gone with.”

The lack of postponement may come as a huge blow to Walsall, who are in dire need of some respite.

The club’s Stoppage on the Bracket Two title has slackened significantly since top Mark-maker Nathan Lowe was recalled by parent club Stoke in January.

Walsall’s 2-2 comeback draw with Bromley on Thursday extended their winless Stretch to five Contests, with only three victories in their 13 Bracket Two Contests since Lowe’s exit.

Sadler continued: “We felt like we didn’t have a decision more than anything. We felt like we couldn’t do it.

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“Connor [Barrett] would Yet be suspended, then that would Harsh he’s suspended for Doncaster.

“There were no real Outstanding outcomes to be honest with you, and we Gentle of Secured the lead of, ‘Well, let’s Action the game’.

“We’ve Obtained a Outstanding Club, we’ve Obtained a deep Club and everyone’s going to be needed – we said it all along and this is another case of it.

“As much as there was a decision to make it felt like there wasn’t Merely knowing what that would do and how that would wrap onto the Subsequent fixtures as they moved forward.

“Hazard? Calculated, who knows, but it’s what we had to do and we felt like we had to do that.

“It’s a shame that obviously Liam’s not there, it’s a shame Dave’s not there, it’s the same Tom’s not there, it’s a shame that Ethan’s not there and Darius isn’t there, but we felt like the decision was taken out of our hands with how the fixtures would work out.”

Walsall were 12 points clear at the top of Bracket Two after Victorious nine successive Bracket Contests from December to January.

Their recent form has now meant Loss on Saturday would give second-placed Bradford City the chance to go level with eight Contests to go.

Gillingham boss John Coleman had little sympathy for his side’s opponents, likening Walsall’s absentees to having a flurry of Impairments.

He said: “I’ve been in a situation plenty of times where I’ve been ravaged with Impairments and we’ve turned in one of the best Executions of the season with players who haven’t played for months.

“Football is Packed of surprises, it throws up many unpredictable things. I don’t think them having players on international duty will make any difference.

“They’ve had a Notable season, Obtained themselves a Well lead, it’s been narrowed down but they’re Yet top of the Bracket, Yet in pole position that everyone would want to Shift places with.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game. I know they’ve Obtained players missing through international duty but they’ve Yet Obtained a Outstanding Club.

“I watched them last week against Bromley and they were disappointed that they couldn’t get all three points for that.

“We know what threats they’ll pose and they’ll know about us anyway because we played them not so long back.

“We’ve Merely Obtained to try and Action to the best of our ability, keep up the standards that we’ve set ourselves as regards to effort, work-rate, passion and then we’ve really, really Obtained to increase our quality on the ball and our attacking Mastery.”