I know quite a few of the Walsall team and that should bring out the competitive spirit in me.

Romaine Sawyers is in good form for them lately and we played quite a lot together in West Brom’s reserves, along with Sam Mantom and Paul Downing, who are also in their side.

They also have Antony Forde in the team who I used to play with for Ireland and it will be a good battle out there if we were both to play.

Adam Chambers was in West Brom’s first team when I was coming through the academy.

You always want to get one up on the people you know and it should be good.

You can have friends in football but when you step on that pitch they are your opponents and competitors. They won’t be friends on the pitch.

Those players in front of you are the ones stopping you getting the three points and you have to do whatever you can to get them.

Walsall’s ground is a place I know pretty well. When I was at West Brom I used to drive past it quite a bit, as their ground was halfway home.

We are very excited about going there and Walsall have been in very good form, like us. They have some really talented players and play some good football.

We do have respect for them but we are going there to win the game and extend our lead at the top of the table.

Read the full column in Friday's Medway Messenger