Walsall travel to Hartlepool tomorrow aiming to record what, for much of the season, figured only in their wildest dreams - a third successive away victory. The Saddlers' travelling traumas this term are well-documented. But it's all come together of late and they visit the north-east seeking to add the scalp of play-offs-chasing 'Pool to those of Swindon and Peterborough on their last two trips. At last, Walsall have located fluency and self-belief somewhere other than Bescot. And never mind that, in league table terms, tomorrow's game is meaningless for his side, manager Paul Merson will again demand every drop of commitment to "keep the ball rolling". "We have loads to play for," Merson said. "The last couple of weeks have been fantastic with a real buzz about the place and I'm not letting it go now. "Apart from anything else, we owe it to the other promotion-chasers like Sheffield Wednesday and Brentford to give our all, just like we did when we played against them. "But we want to keep the ball rolling and stay unbeaten from here. "Hartlepool are decent so if we show any trace of an end-of-season mentality we could take a beating like we did at Colchester." Merson's focus on the game has been combined this week with escalating planning for next season. He is close to completing an in-house coaching reshuffle with Eric Mac-Manus taking on a greater youth-based role, freeing up head of youth Mick Halsall to spend more time alongside Merson with the first team. Simon Osborn could also rejoin the coaching staff. Walsall are considering withdrawing their reserve team from the Pontin's League next season in favour of playing second-string friendlies closer to home. "I'm not a great lover of reserve-team football," Merson said. "I'd like to play friendlies against certain other teams in the Midlands. There are 20-odd teams in this area after all. "It's ludicrous that we go to places like Hartlepool with a 400-mile round trip for a reserve game." | 
