WHITNEY: I CAN’T TRUST MY PLAYERS
JON Whitney’s first FA Cup game as Walsall manager was one he will want to forget – but he admitted his ‘rabbits in the headlights’ will make it difficult to do just that.
Macclesfield produced arguably the FA Cup shock of the day – the only NonLeague side to beat league opposition – as they bridged two divisions and 46 places.
And Whitney admitted the display was a shock to him after a run that had seen Walsall climb out of the League One drop zone to the fringes of the play-offs.
Whitney said: “It’s one to forget but I won’t forget it too quickly.
“Some of the decision-making and some of the below-par performances, you are not going to come through even against a Non-League team.
“They have to handle it themselves better, handle the expectancy.
“You are an elite athlete and you are going to play against teams where you are expected to win.
“Some of my players were like rabbits in the headlights. That’s not good because I need to trust players in League One.”
National League side Macclesfield had done their homework and man-marked Saddlers dangerman Erhun Oztumer – who had eight goals in 17 appearances prior to this – out of the game.
Whitney added: “It was too easy for them to camp in and see out the 1-0. We need to have more quality than that – we have players who can do it. We need to work out why they didn’t.”
Macclesfield manager John Askey admitted keeping Oztumer quiet was key after adding Walsall to Cup scalps including Swindon and Cardiff in recent seasons.
Askey said: “The game plan worked well. We knew who their danger man was.
“We more than matched them. They had a few chances, but we created more than they did.
“It’s a massive win for the club – it has to go down as one of the best wins that Macclesfield have ever had.
“It’s a massive result financially – it’s worth £20,000-plus and a gate for the next round as well, so it’s huge.
“We want to progress as far as we can in the competition, and after winning here, whoever we get in the second round we know we can give then a game.”
It could have been a different story had Walsall’s Joe Edwards finished a superb 50-yard solo run nine minutes in but his shot was saved by Craig Ross.
The winning goal came on 23 minutes as John McCombe glanced home Dan Whitaker’s set-piece after a mix-up between Walsall defender Matt Preston and Neil Etheridge. Etheridge fingertipped Danny Rowe’s 20-yarder away from the bottom corner before Ross’s strong palms prevented Oztumer’s fierce strike levelling matters.
But Macclesfield should have won by more, Jack Sampson wasting their best chance by hitting the post after being gifted the ball.