The Saddlers made a fast start and were rewarded with two well-taken goals before being forced to dig deep after being reduced to 10 men with Elicha Ahui's second half dismissal.

While disappointed to lose a player, Grant felt the performance highlighted everything his side have been building towards this season.

“There was lots to like, I have to be honest,” he said.

“Our mentality was excellent and obviously two sides of the mentality. We got to see both sides of the group and the things that we've talked a lot about and we take great pride in.

"We got to see the team going out and attacking the game early on and scoring good goals and causing lots of threat, and then we got to see a different side of us as well post the red card.

"The group as a whole has to take great pride in the way they managed the game.”

Grant revealed his players had been aware of the challenge posed by an Oldham side that impressed in a 4-1 win over Cheltenham in their previous game, but he was impressed with the way Walsall imposed themselves from the outset.

“Like most teams, we wanted to start the game bright and with good energy and focus,” he said.

“Particularly here, we want to make sure we're really making it difficult for teams.

"Despite the fact they were probably coming off the back of their best performance, and when we're watching them there's lots to like about the things that they did against Cheltenham previously, we had to focus on ourselves and back ourselves in moments as well and I thought we did that fantastically.

Action from Walsall v Oldham Athletic (Image: Thomas Lee Stacey)

"Two really good goals, and I think the threat that we caused was enough to really unsettle them and get us to half-time in a really good place.”

A key moment came from goalkeeper Jed Ward, who assisted the opening goal with a long, low kick that caught the Latics Defence off guard.

Former goalkeeper Grant added: “The way Jed's distributing the ball currently, not only that, the important moments he's having for us in terms of keeping the ball out of the net are really pivotal to what we're trying to do at the moment. It's a wonderful piece of skill, and he continued in that fashion, especially with 10 men his distribution became really important.”

Grant was equally pleased with the composure shown by his forwards in front of goal.

“Wonderful goals for lots of different reasons,” he continued.

“What I love is the fact that both of our strikers go through with really good calmness and composure and actually just back themselves.

"So Pres (Aaron Pressley) in that moment, it's easy to overthink, same with Tai (Sodje). Both showed really assured finishes and I'm delighted for them both.”

Even after going down to 10 men with half an hour to go, Grant felt Walsall continued to carry the greater threat and reserved special praise for the depth within his squad after making four changes from the side that impressed at Swindon.

“In the first half we dominated the game and had a considerable amount of possession and in the second half we're close to dominating the game again in terms of possession,” he said.

“But in terms of actual threat to the opposition goal and big moments, we're still creating more than the opposition and that is a big, big boost for the lads in terms of what we can do as a collective.

"Going into the game post-Swindon, one of our best performances of the season, we made four changes. Full trust in everybody that comes in and the boys that came in did fantastically well.

"Of course the full group are going to be needed and those guys were excellent when they came onto the pitch.”

While keen to keep expectations in check, Grant admitted the display ranked among Walsall’s best of the campaign.

“It's close to being one of our better performances,” he said.

“We can't get too giddy, we know every game is tough and you have to earn the right and that's how we set our stall out in the game.

"Having watched Oldham significantly before the game we knew it was going to be tough, it proved to be.

"I just think our mentality was really, really strong today and there was enough to really chip away at the opposition and we got our just rewards.”