26 December 2020

Richie Wellens delighted with Salford’s progress

26 December 2020

Richie Wellens believes momentum is building at Salford as the Ammies saw off in-form Walsall 2-0 to move back into the League Two play-off places.

Former Manchester United striker James Wilson tapped in his seventh goal of the season and substitute Luke Burgess sealed the win with a fantastic solo effort late on, waltzing through the Saddlers defence.

“Burgess honestly scores them every day in training,” said boss Wellens.

“He has really good feet and the way we were going to score a second was a counter-attack or a bit of magic. We were not going to score another way.

“So really pleased for Luke and Wilson is now fully fit and when he gets the ball he is quality. I don’t worry about him because he has had a fantastic upbringing at Manchester United so I know he will make the right decision.

“At times it was a tough game because the conditions weren’t great and it was very windy.

“The pitch was firm, zippy and quite bobbly and they are a good team, Darrell (Clarke) has got them playing very well and that is the first time they have been beaten in seven games.

“So we knew we were coming up against a good team who are a handful and efficient in what they do, so the result was important and a really good one.

“I just want us to keep this momentum. You can feel something is building here, we are finding different ways to win games and showing a lot of character through rocky periods.”

Walsall boss Darrell Clarke was disappointed to see a run of four straight wins for his side come to an end.

“We had some players coming back who are still building up their fitness levels. Salford defended well and were very well organised so you have to give them a lot of credit,” he said.

“The big name players in their side were good and defensively they held out strong, but we asked them questions today to be fair to them. They have had a very uncomfortable game there if they are honest about it and we are just disappointed we did not get that first goal.

“We have built ourselves a platform with only 20 games gone, and another 26 to go this season, there will be bumps in the road like today but we have just got to make sure we reset and refocus and get one or two of our injured players back.

“We will be ready to go against Scunthorpe on Tuesday and I will be looking for a response. Not for one minute was there a lack of effort or endeavour.

“We have just got to defend better and have a bit of quality, our players lacked composure in the final third today.”

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