Latics boss John Sheridan watched his team fight back from a 1-2 deficit with some character to record their third successive win. Mark Allott gave the hosts an early lead only for Walsall to snatch two goals in three minutes, inevitably one of them coming from Michael Ricketts, to put the Saddlers ahead.Lee Hughes (pictured) hit an equaliser just before half time when he volleyed home a Daniel Jones centre. It looked like Walsall were going to hold on for a point but another attacking run from impressive on-loan Jones resulted in Hughes firing home a close range winner with just two minutes remaining. The win hoisted Athletic back up to fourth spot and must have been a fillip for the Latics administration team, although the gate of less then 4,000 must have been disappointing.
Sheridan told the press, "There's no better way to win a match than by scoring a last-minute winner. We battled away without playing great and managed to win the game. Full respect to the players. They've had a bit of a sticky patch and I wasn't happy with going out of the cup, but they've bounced back and three wins out of three isn't bad! But all three games have been tough. Walsall took care of the ball and I thought they were very lively tonight. We got three points out of a very tough game and now we're in a decent position."
"Both Hughes' goals were in the six-yard box and that's what Lee's all about. He knows where to be at the right time and he knew what he was doing for the winning goal. He's cut half a yard across and just let the ball hit him more than anything. He guided it towards the goal where other players might have taken a big swing and maybe completely missed the ball. Lee knows where the net is and luckily for us he found it. We tell the other strikers it's all about hitting the target. If you watch Lee he very rarely whacks anything - he will pick his spot instead and that's what he's done tonight."