Walsall boss Matt Taylor: why Carlisle United should be higher in League Two

The Saddlers head coach says there will be “no underestimating” the second-bottom Blues at Brunton Park tomorrow.

Taylor, whose No2 is ex-United boss Neil McDonald, is hoping to lead his 11th-placed side to a fifth straight away win in all competitions.

But he insisted it would not be easy against a Carlisle side desperate to improve their position.

“It’s another tough game – they [Carlisle] are a team that, with the players they have, aren’t in a position in the league where they probably should be,” said Taylor.

“They’ve had a turnover of a manager, and that’s never easy at a football club. I’m sure he [Keith Millen] will be trying to get his ideas across.

“But they’ve got some very good footballers. Results aren’t going for them at the moment but there’s no underestimating of them and the threats they have, from us or the players.

“Another tough game, and we need to do something we haven’t done this season which is put two [league] wins back-to-back,” he added on his club’s YouTube channel.

Walsall won 1-0 at high-flying Port Vale on Tuesday and have steadily climbed the table after a slow start.

They are unbeaten in seven away from home in all competitions, while Taylor this week told the Express & Star that United’s 2006/7 boss McDonald - who was also a schoolboy player at Brunton Park in the 1980s - has been an “exceptional” addition.

Future Blues boss and Walsall No2 Neil McDonald pictured as a schoolboy Carlisle United player in 1982, in the Cumberland Evening News

He said: "His knowledge and understanding are just second to none.

"In terms of advice and the way he deals with the players, it's just been excellent for me.

"Neil's experience is brilliant, and what he's brought more than anything is a calming nature.”

Taylor added that Walsall must “do the basics” right if they are to prevail against Millen’s Cumbrians.

“That’s run, fight, tackle,” he said.

“I understand we’re getting better in the way we want o move the football, and in our identity, but that’s all underpinned by hard work.

“The game, I think, is going to be an extremely difficult one. It’s a distance to travel for fans to come and watch and support us. Our job is to put in a performance worthy of trying to get a good result.”