Walsall Head Coach Mat Sadler has praised his team for their 'encouraging' performance during Tuesday evening's Carabao Cup - Round One defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
Twice taking the lead before succumbing to their Championship opponents' advances, the Saddlers more than held their own against strong opposition on a positive night at Ewood Park.
Goals from Oisin McEntee and on-loan Motherwell midfielder Ross Tierney gave the Saddlers two separate leads before Zak Gilsenan and Niall Ennis levelled for the home side to take the game into the break all-square.
Blackburn took the lead and build to a strong advantage in the second forty-five as Jake Garrett and John Buckley both scored before Ronan Maher netted his first senior goal to give his side a glimmer of hope heading into the final stages.
And, although the match ultimately ended with Rovers securing a place in Round Two, the gaffer believed there were plenty of positives to take into next weekend's League Two clash with Stockport County.
Speaking to the assembled media, including the Express & Star, Mat said; "It was there for us all to see, when you go in front, you've got to stay in front longer than we did.
"But it's difficult to be critical of the lads tonight in the first half especially, and then we had to show a different side to us when we went behind in the second half.
"In the first half, I thought we could've scored at least another couple. There was without question a stonewall penalty that was turned down.
"I don't know how. I thought the way that we countered on them, the way that we broke, the football that we played when we had the opportunity to do so was extremely encouraging from my perspective."