THE NEW Year got underway with the visit of in-form Doncaster Rovers in front of a Banks's Stadium crowd of over 6,000.

The Saddlers were on top for much of the opening period but fell behind right on the stroke of half-time as Jason Price found the net for the Yorkshiremen.

We managed to grab a point through Scott Dann with just quarter-of-an-hour left on the clock.

Our attentions turned to FA Cup matters in the next game with the third round visit of League One rivals, Millwall.

Once more, Richard Money's men found themselves on top for much of the game but were unable to find a way through a stubborn Millwall rear-guard.

In the end we had to settle for a goalless draw and another fixture in our already hectic schedule.

Our first road trip of the year took us to Yeovil Town on a blustery Tuesday night.

We found ourselves battling against an extremely strong wind and driving rain during the opening period, the highlight of which was when a Clayton Ince goal-kick went behind for a corner!

The conditions settled down somewhat after the restart and this allowed us to play our usual passing game. We became more in control of proceedings as the half went on and goals from Scott Dann and Alex Nicholls gave us an excellent three points against a side who made the League One play-off Final last term.

Swindon Town were our next opponents on a heavy Banks's Stadium pitch and both teams put on an entertaining and high-energy encounter.

Edrissa Sonko had given us a first half lead before the scoring exploded just after the hour-mark when the visitors turned the scoreline on its head with two goals in as many minutes.

Within a minute of them taking the lead, however,  that man Sonko was on target again to equalise as honours ended even.

Our FA Cup third round replay at Millwall only went ahead after several pitch inspections as the rain continued to fall.

The home side took and early lead and then went on to double their advantage just after the break.

The punishing schedule of matches was starting to show on The Saddlers' young team, but Alex Nicholls' goal on the hour set up a frantic finish as we threw everything at our hosts in a bid to get back on level terms.

In the end it just wasn't to be as Millwall secured a fourth round trip to Coventry City.

A trip to Bristol Rovers was next on the agenda as the home side invested in a state-of-the-art pitch cover to ensure that the game went ahead.

Another goal from Edrissa Sonko gave us a deserved lead towards the end of the first half and we went on to defend doggedly until three minutes from time when Rovers' substitute, Craig Disley fired home with a low strike.

We were back in winning ways against a Gillingham outfit who had seen an improvement in their results under new boss, Mark Stimson.

The Saddlers were boosted by having skipper, Tommy Mooney back in action after a niggling hamstring problem that had laid him low for a month and he duly opened the scoring from Troy Deeney's excellent cross.

Our advantage was doubled when Edrissa Sonko weighed in with his fourth goal of the month and despite The Gills pulling a goal back with a screaming effort deep into injury time at the end, our hard-work and endeavour had secured another three important points to make it 16 League games without defeat.

The unbeaten League run was extended in the final game of the month as we drew 0-0 at home to Leyton Orient despite dominating proceedings from start to finish.

Once again Walsall played some impressive stuff on a difficult surface, but couldn't find the cutting edge required to get the all-important goal.