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

03/21/2025 11:35 AM

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

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

Three of those players are first-team regulars, which is the minimum threshold 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 further depleted by wing-back Connor Barrett’s two-match suspension for accumulating ten yellow cards.

To add insult to injury, promotion rivals Doncaster Rovers will enjoy a blank weekend after successfully lobbying for a postponement of their match 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 final week of the season, the only available date for the rescheduled match would have forced the Saddlers to play four games in nine days over April.

Speaking in his pre-match 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 got two free weeks – apparently EFL don’t let you go into the last week.

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

“Four games in nine days, it just didn’t seem to make sense to do that either. We were kinda caught between a rock and a hard 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 grip on the League Two title has slackened significantly since top scorer Nathan Lowe was recalled by parent club Stoke in January.

Walsall’s 2-2 comeback draw with Bromley on Thursday extended their winless run to five games, with only three victories in their 13 League Two games 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.

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

“There were no real great outcomes to be honest with you, and we kind of took the lead of, ‘Well, let’s play the game’.

“We’ve got a good squad, we’ve got a deep squad 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 just knowing what that would do and how that would wrap onto the next fixtures as they moved forward.

“Risk? 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 League Two after winning nine successive league games from December to January.

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

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

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

"Football is full 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 remarkable season, got themselves a healthy lead, it’s been narrowed down but they’re still top of the league, still in pole position that everyone would want to change places with.

"We know it’s going to be a tough game. I know they’ve got players missing through international duty but they’ve still got a good squad.

"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 just got to try and play 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 got to increase our quality on the ball and our attacking prowess."