Lee's party invites Wolves to the door

Walsall 1 Wimbledon

The magic dust of the FA Cup was fairly thin on the ground for this fourth-round tie, but there was enough of it going round to ensure that Colin Lee could celebrate his first anniv-ersary in charge of Walsall with a hard-fought victory.

It was thanks to David Zdrilic's 75th-minute strike that the Saddlers equalled their best performance in the FA Cup and, interestingly, set alive the possibility of a match- up in the next round with Lee's former club, Wolves.

Lee did not want to be drawn on the prospect of facing the club that sacked him, but he did say: "I'd sooner have Manchester United or Arsenal away or a team at home that we can beat. Deep down I suppose it means a bit more if we play Wolves, but I've got no axe to grind."

The two main concerns for Walsall before this match were pretty basic: the state of the pitch and the state of the team. On the strength of the first half both were withstanding the rigours of this tie in satisfactory fashion, even if the pitch at the Bescot Stadium resembled more of a sandpit than a football ground in some patches.

The Saddlers, facing their First Division rivals, were without five first-team regulars, including their captain, Martin O'Connor, on-loan Neil Emblen, who was prevented from playing by his club Norwich, and the Brazilian striker Junior, who is awaiting international clearance to continue his career in the West Midlands.

Walsall had two strikers in operation yet their main threat on goal came from an unexpected source, Darren Bazeley. Twice the former Wolves full-back made darting runs down his flank and carved out opportunities for himself.

The first came after nine minutes when he cut in from the right, moved the ball on to his left foot and aimed for the top corner. He improved on that misdirected effort four minutes later, this time testing Kelvin Davis with a shot from 20 yards.

The poor quality of football on display merely reflected the current form of both teams. Walsall are 20th in the First Division and just six points clear of the relegation zone. Wimbledon are not much better off, sitting threeplaces higher. Between them these two clubs have not won in the League this year. Honours were even when they met in the League, as they both won their home games.

The Wimbledon substitute Gareth Ainsworth came on at half-time and instantly threatened to score as he ran at the home defence. But when he was brought down, the referee waved play on. It was as close as Wimbledon got.