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Alexander frustrated by defeat

Image: Graham Alexander: Fleetwood were below-par

Graham Alexander admitted his Fleetwood side were below par as their nine-month unbeaten Highbury run ended in a 1-0 loss to Walsall.

Romaine Sawyers hit the only goal, taking advantage of a mix-up in the Fleetwood defence, picking the ball up at the back post and lashing a low shot past Chris Maxwell. Fleetwood pushed for an equaliser but the closest they came was when Martin Paterson rounded Saddlers keeper Richard O'Donnell only for Paul Downing to clear on the line. "It's very frustrating and disappointing," said boss Alexander. "There's the result, first and foremost, we didn't want to lose the game. "But the performance in the first half wasn't good enough. The tempo we played at wasn't great and we let Walsall dominate possession. "They didn't really have any chances apart from the goal, which we've defended very poorly. "But they had the upper hand in possession comfortably, which is disappointing for us. "In the second half we've picked up the tempo, tried to forced the issues and should have scored." Alexander's troops were sent out five minutes ahead of the second half starting, and the manager admitted his team talk had been short and to the point. "There wasn't much to say at half-time," he added. "I just told them the truth. There wasn't any tactical information to give out. "We were playing at half pace and we had to pick it up. "I thought the subs that came on injected life into the team, gave us the lift we needed. "We should have got a point in the game. But we didn't deserve any more. "You can't play quite well for 30 minutes and expect to win against a good team." Saddlers chief Dean Smith was relieved to see his side surivive a late onslaught but pleased with the overall display. He said:" I am delighted, I thought the performance was terrific. "For 80 minutes we were in total control but they threw the kitchen sink at us at the end. "We managed to keep a clean sheet but we should have put the game to bed earlier. "We worked the ball really well from side to side and when the lads play like that it shows we're a team to be reckoned with. "It should have been more, I thought 1-0 flattered Fleetwood a little bit but that's credit to our players and credit to them for coming back from a defeat in the week. "We've had a lot of good performances, let's not lose sight of that. We made a couple of changes but the players were great, their application to the job at hand was fantastic. "We had a great balance about us, which was good. What I liked was the players knew when it was there to go for it and when it wasn't. And when we did push forward other players were there to cover." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts

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