It was a repeat of the same old show for Walsall manager Paul Merson as the frustrations of management began to hit home against Sheffield Wednesday. A week after criticising his teams Keystone Cop defending in the 3-1 defeat at Doncaster Rovers, Merson was treated to another lacklustre performance despite wringing wholesale changes to his defence on Saturday. Out went Neil Emblen and Ian Roper but Merson was despondent that he had to sit through the same old problems again as two points slipped away. True, his team conceded only one goal and came back against one of the more fancied teams in this division. But this was not good enough as Walsall failed to get their passing game working. For the first half-hour Wednesday controlled the game, a spell punctuated by them taking the lead with Glen Whelans first goal for the Owls. In fact Wednesday were so comfortable at first that when defender Richard Wood went off for several minutes for treatment to a cut eye nobody seemed to notice they had temporarily been reduced to ten men. Although Walsall also managed to continue their unbeaten home run, Merson was unable to hide his disappointment at the defensive lapses and inaccurate passing. He said: Its not good enough. I am very very frustrated. I expect us to win these games. They were there to be beaten; they came for a draw and they got what they wanted. I know what this team can do, and they are much better than Sheffield Wednesday. Merson praised John Bewers, the young right-back signed from Aston Villa this week, and Neil Emblen, who steadied the ship when he came on as a substitute. But he said that hard work was still needed to be done to get Walsall playing to his specifications. Merson said: We became nervous and I dont know why. We are good at home. We gave them a 1-0 head start before we started. At half time we did not want the whistle to blow. If we had gone 2-1 up, then it could have been three or four or five. But instead it was Keystone Cops again. Another silly goal. Wednesday certainly had their share of the chances, and a draw was probably the right result between two labouring sides. After dominating the first exchanges, the Owls led when the Walsall defence failed to clear the ball before striker Steven McClean attempted to shoot past Walsall keeper Mark Paston. The ball was deflected into the path of Glen Whelan, who shot home into the roof of the unguarded net from ten yards. The Walsall backline, including youngsters John Bewers and young Danish centre-half Kofi Dakinah, looked to be in disarray. Enter Emblen, when Dakinah - who had looked shaky - was substituted following an injury and the Saddlers began edging back into the game. Instead of the earlier hit-and-hope balls, they began playing the ball on the ground and Leroy Williams began a surging run on the Wednesday goal only to be brought back for an earlier Wednesday infringement. From the resulting free kick Zigor Aranalde floated the ball over the Wednesday wall and from an Emblen knock-down Michael Standing pounced for his first Walsall goal. The equaliser was a real fillip to the home side who pressed forward as the first half entered its dying moments and the whistle went with Walsall wanting more as Wednesday tottered on the ropes. The second half, by contrast, was a more scrappy affair, highlighted by outstanding saves by both goalkeepers. Julian Bennett seemed to play better with Emblen alongside him in defence. Then Wednesday hit back, first through substitute Ndumbu Nsungu who summoned an outstanding save from Paston at almost point blank range. Then Darren Wrack forced a quality stop from Wednesday goalkeeper Lucas after being set up by Merson and Standing, before Ndumbu Nsungu fluffed a clear header from six yards out. Despite his gloomy assessment, Merson was optimistic for the future, saying: I think we will get into the promotion race. There is only eight games gone. We are a passing team, and if teams come here and we start lumping it about then we are not going to win. We are not equipped to play that way. The biggest club in the division came here looking for a draw. I do not fear anybody, and I dont play like that. As soon as we get the ball down we are going to win the next game. | 
