IN FOOTBALL cliché terms, City’s showdown with Walsall this afternoon is firmly in “cup final” territory.

With two points separating the teams in the increasingly concertinaed league of 10, as David Hopkin describes it, the stakes could not be much higher at the Banks’s Stadium.

City have sold out their ticket allocation and, with more fans expected to pay on the gate, can anticipate a healthy following to the West Midlands.

Read more: City's 4-0 win over Walsall ended 53-day stint at bottom

But it won’t scratch the surface compared with the number Walsall mustered when they did play in a bona-fide cup final.

Bantams keeper Richard O’Donnell was in the Saddlers goal when they reached the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy showpiece against Bristol City four years ago.

It was an historic occasion for the smallest of football’s Midlands mafia – the first time Walsall had been to Wembley. And the town came out in force.

“It was an unbelievable day,” recalled O’Donnell, who made 105 appearances in two seasons for the Saddlers.

“It was a massive thing for the club at the time because they had never been to Wembley. As an occasion, it was huge.

“The crowd for the game was nearly 75,000 because obviously Bristol City have a big support.

“But our home crowds were usually 3,500 and we ended up with 32,000. I don’t know where they all came from!

“It was an unbelievable time and nice to be a part of their history in the first team that got Walsall to Wembley.”

There was to be no happy ending as favourites Bristol City, who would clinch promotion from League One with a 6-0 romp at Valley Parade three weeks later, won 2-0.

But the day remains a special memory for O’Donnell and a reminder of a Walsall team, managed by current Aston Villa boss Dean Smith, who he felt did not fulfil their potential.

O’Donnell admitted: “To be honest, we didn’t do as well as we should have done at that time with the team we had.

“We were probably underdogs in terms of budgets in the league but we had some really good players. It was disappointing not to finish higher than we did.

“But I had a really good time there and it’s a club that I’ll always have a lot of time for.

“Because there are so many teams around Walsall, I think the fans you do get are really passionate about the club.

“There aren’t that many in number but they have a hardcore set of fans that will come week in, week out.”

Having been accustomed to seeing the team consistently punch above their weight, the Walsall faithful are growing understandably twitchy at the present predicament.

A run of five straight losses – eight out of nine in total – have left them nervously eyeing the drop opening beneath them.

O’Donnell will shove any personal affection for his old club aside by helping City do their best to push Walsall into it.

He added: “Yeah, their mindset at the minute is probably not great because they’ve lost a lot of games.

“Their form has not been good at all recently and we need to try and take advantage of that.

“We just need the win and it doesn’t matter how it comes. Whether it’s 1-0 or 5-4, it doesn’t matter to me – it’s all about picking up three points.

“But we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.

“It’s a crazy league. There are that many results every week which leave you scratching your head.

“The game when we won 4-0 last time doesn’t really come into our thoughts. This will be totally different.”

City’s 4-0 win over Walsall in December remains the biggest Valley Parade victory since November 2017.

The Bantams were bottom going into that game on just 15 points – exactly half that of their opponents in 10th.

But O’Donnell stressed his confidence in survival has never wavered.

“We’ve had to think positive,” he said. “Back then, I can remember saying that the belief in the group was still massive.

“We knew we’ve got a good team and we all believed we would get out of it – and we still do.

“It’s very tight and a lot of teams have been dragged into it. That’s probably better for everyone who are down there.

“A couple of wins or four points from two games can take you up to 15th or 16th in the league.

“The performance in the second half last weekend against Plymouth showed what we are capable of. We did everything but put the ball in the net.

“It’s just about keeping that level of performance and if we do that, I’m sure we will pick up points.”