Smith: I chose not to spend Walsall FC's transfer funds

And the Saddlers boss claimed Walsall do not need major surgery this summer to become a top-six team.

After lying sixth early in the year, the Saddlers' play-off challenge faltered over the final third of the season.

Focus has fallen on whether more could have been done to strengthen for the run-in. Smith says it was his decision, as he felt his squad was already strong enough.

"There were funds there for me to go and get players in, that is for sure," he said. "The club were certainly committed to get promotion, or get into the top six.

"But at the time if someone had shown me a player to go and get, and who they would have replaced, well, they would have had to have been really good, the way we were playing at the time."

Smith did sign Febian Brandy and Liverpool striker Michael Ngoo on loan during the transfer window, but admits he missed out on some targets because of their wage demands.

"We spoke about a number of players and unfortunately we would not meet the wage demands of some," he said.

"The good thing about this club is everything we do is sustainable and we will continue to do that.

"There were funds there for us to go and do things. I enquired about players who I thought would have been right to come and better us, but things just didn't materialise."

Smith says the club will learn from the experience of this campaign.

"There are no regrets," he said. "We were playing well, there was a really good chance of us going and getting into the play-offs and I felt with the players we already had, we had enough.

"Ultimately it has shown it wasn't to be. Some things went against us, some people fell out of form but that is something we will review."

The Saddlers boss has a clear picture of what needs to be done to the squad for the next campaign.

He will talk with out-of-contract players after the final match of the season, but appears keen to keep most of the current squad. "I have a number of players out of contract here which I will be addressing," he said. "I have the spine of a team which I think is really good here.

"I don't think it is going to take an awful lot for us to be a top-six team next season."

Deals have already been done to secure the services of James Baxendale, Sam Mantom, Paul Downing and Richard O'Donnell. Talks with skipper Andy Butler continue while players whose deals are set to expire include top scorer Craig Westcarr, full-backs James Chambers and Andy Taylor, while Ben Purkiss and Nicky Featherstone have also seen significant playing time.