Crewe Alex v Walsall 25-26 Preview - Final Stretch

Sigh. I had a really good stat to go in here, but then Walsall go and do something incredibly stupid and sack Mat Sadler, hence the rewrite. Great, another caretaker/new manager coming to the Alex for his first game in charge, following in the footsteps of Christian Fuchs, Steve Evans and Paul Gallagher.

Personally, I don't think it changes a massive amount for this game in terms of prep for the Alex. I doubt Walsall are likely to do anything dramatically different in terms of shape or selections, but it does put a different perspective on things. Here is my preview of the now Sadler-less Saddlers visit to Gresty Road:

Energised?

Was Sadler the only reason why Walsall have won 2 of their last 14 league games and are now 11th? No, most probably he wasn't. But we all know what happens when a change of regime happens. It energises the players and fan base. They find a new spirit and they band together to pull some results out of the fire.

However, it doesn't always work that way. Look at Barrow. They are on their 4th manager of the season and nothing has worked. Newport have hardly kicked on under Fuchs. Interim manager Darren Byfield has the same group of players to work with and only a couple of days of prep time. Is he likely to throw out a brand new system or use his players dramatically differently? I doubt it. As I said above, the change of manager for Walsall does change things, but there is no reason why the Alex should approach this game any differently.

Pallet Cleanser

That is especially true after last weeks debacle at Bristol Rovers. I hope all of the management and players are hurting after that. They should be. But what they need to do is use that as motivation to kick back on this week. They've dropped out of the top 7 and once again are looking to catch the teams above them. Their margin for error is slipping and they need to get back on the winning trail. They've done that after their last 3 defeats.

They lost at Newport and picked up 7 points from their next 3. They lost against Notts County and went unbeaten in 5, winning 3 of them. They lost against Fleetwood and responded by winning back to back games. They'll need to do something similar here. That would be the ideal pallet cleanser to last week.

Home Record

With their win against Tranmere in their last home outing, the Alex moved up to 34 points secured from their home games, which is more than they managed in the whole of last season. Another 6 points and they would surpass their totals from the 22-23 and 23-24 seasons as well. Now, they'd have to win all 5 of their remaining games to surpass the 47 points from the 18-19 season and I don't see that happening, but there is no reason why they can't be looking to win this one as a start.

Comes Back Around

Whilst Walsall changing manager might give them new energy, the fact is they have had a tough schedule over the last few weeks. The Alex haven't played in midweek since Fleetwood, 3 weeks ago. Walsall on the other hand have played in the last 2 Tuesday's whilst the Alex were sat at home resting. Walsall were in action on Tuesday on a heavy sand pit at Salford, which surely will have drained the energy out of them. I really hope the Alex can take advantage of the fact they've played 2 fewer games than the Saddlers since February 17th.

Big Crowds

I've been critical of the Alex for folding under pressure on the road. But those stage fright issues seem confined to their away games, because at home they've risen to the big occasion. They've played 18 home games this season and in the 9 biggest crowds, they've gone 6-1-2. In their 9 smallest, they've gone 4-3-2. In games where the opposition have brought over 1,000 fans, they are 4-1-0.

They've sent home the likes of Notts County, Tranmere, Grimsby and Shrewsbury with nothing. Chesterfield only left with a point. With Walsall likely to bring a sizeable following, I'm hoping the Alex can keep their good home run going in front of a big crowd once again.

Final 10

We can oversell just how important this final 10 game stretch is for the Alex and their longer term path, but we shouldn't undersell it either. It could be transformational. A strong run and a top 7 finish would give them a vitally important cash boost at a time where their finances are becoming seemingly perilous. It would boost season ticket sales and give them real momentum to take into next season, regardless of what league they are in.

But a bad run would see any optimism dissipate. It would lead to renewed discussions about Bell's future as manager, the teams trajectory and the finances of the club. Crucially, there don't appear to be any excuses for a poor end to the season this time. They aren't holding onto a top 7 spot as a surprise upstart. They aren't decimated by key injuries. They have a good squad of players that are more than capable of finishing the season strong. Now they need to go and do it.

Ref Watch

Stephen Parkinson

This is Parkinson's 3rd Crewe game and ironically, his 2nd was when the Alex played Walsall at the Bescot last season. He was fairly non-descript in that game and he has a bit of experience in the league, so hopefully he won't be in over his head like the last ref at Gresty Road was.

2025-26 Record: 27 games(9 League One, 10 League Two, 3 National League, 2 FA Cup, 3 EFL Trophy), 101 yellows, 2 reds

Last Game: Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Doncaster Rovers, EFL League One, Saturday 7th March 2026, 9 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 0-1-1, 5 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

Bell was playing it cautious with Emre Tezgel, but he did the same last week with Sanders and he returned. So I would hope Tezgel will indeed be back in the squad for this one.

Walsall

The Saddlers were missing Alfie Chang, Kacper Lopata and Alex Pattison on Tuesday, but aside from that they seem relatively injury free. Pattison should be back for this game as well after only missing that Salford game with an illness.

Team

Bell is almost spoilt for choice. For me though, his starting XI is simple. Hutchinson, Demetriou, Pond and Billington in defence. The midfield 2 should be Sanders and Thomas. The front 4 should be March leading the line with Agius, Holicek and O'Reilly behind him from left to right.

The hardest decision then will be who to put on the bench. They have 6 spots and seemingly 7 players to put on there, with Finney, Connolly, Lankester, Bogle, Thibaut, Powell and Tezgel as options. Someone is going to have to miss out and it'll surely have to be one of Bogle, Thibaut or Tezgel, as it doesn't make sense to carry 3 strikers. Well, it won't be Tezgel. So it's between Bogle and Thibaut. And for me, it's the number 9 who drops out. At least, it should be.

Score Prediction

What we get from Walsall in this game is a bit of an unknown. Whilst their squad is the same as it was on Tuesday and Darren Byfield has only had a couple of days to try and prepare for this game, they will come with a renewed purpose. However, the Alex are at home, they have lost two of their last 14 there and they need to be looking to kick on after the defeat last week. This needs to be a win, especially with 2 tricky back to back away games coming up next week.

Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Walsall