Hutchings' warning for sorry Saddlers

Walsall manager Chris Hutchings has warned his under-performing players they must up their game after they handed another club a survival lifeline.

The Saddlers went down 2-1 at relegation threatened Exeter on Saturday despite Julian Gray's first goal for the club, just days after the 3-0 defeat at struggling Southend.

After a third defeat in four games left them 14th in League One, boss Hutchings agreed the players need to start performing.

He said: "They are doing OK but OK isn't good enough, it's as simple as that. We work hard but when you want that bit of quality it's lacking sometimes.

"In terms of clubs and where we are we're probably just above those in the same position. But we want to kick on. I'm sure Southend would swap places and I'm sure Exeter would do too.

"We've done OK but we've got to make sure we get a few more points. It's been disappointing in the last two games."

Matt Taylor and Ryan Harley's penalty handed the struggling Grecians a precious win to leave Hutchings frustrated.

The manager said: "It's the result which counts and if you play badly and win it papers over the cracks. We've got to work hard on the training ground.

"It doesn't matter where you are in the table, you're always fighting to get the next three points."

The Saddlers were the better side for much of the second-half, but went 2-0 down after Jamie Vincent tangled with Barry Corr to concede a 57th minute penalty.

It seemed to happen outside the box and Hutchings felt the award was harsh.

He said: "I thought it was a very dubious decision. It's gone against us but you can't tackle like that and hold people in the box.

"I didn't get a good view, the ball went down the right side, I looked up to see the strikers and all of a sudden it was a penalty. One or two of our players and staff were saying it was outside and sometimes that's what goes against you.

"It does go a little bit like that but you can't blame the referee, players have got to perform better than what they have been."