Dean Smith hails fan-tastic Walsall faithful

Three defeats on the spin had dropped the Saddlers into the League One relegation zone but, following Tom Bradshaw's winner, Smith was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Top scorer Bradshaw, on his return from injury,hit the second-half winner as the Saddlers climbed four places to 19th in the table.

Smith said: "The pleasing part was that the supporters kept with us all through the game.

"We were in the bottom four and it's very easy then to start pointing fingers and be dissenters but the supporters can see what we try to do.

"The 101 who travelled to Crawley last Tuesday will have come back and told people how we played – and it's nice that they stuck with us and that we got the result for them.

"It's a significant victory because we had lost three on the spin and dropped into the bottom four but I never lost belief in the players.

"We didn't deserve to lose the game last weekend against Crewe and should have won at Crawley so we should be sitting here with seven points rather than just three.

"It's a tight league and I felt it would be this season because of the quality of the teams, but we've got to make sure we are consistent in what we do and try to go on a run now."

Smith will be aided in that task by having virtually a fully-fit squad for the first time this season after the returns of Bradshaw and Sam Mantom from injury.

The treatment room is not quite empty, though, as Jordan Cook came off in the Chesterfield win and could be a doubt for Saturday's trip to high-flying Notts County.

Smith added: "I wasn't going to give Tom 90 minutes on Saturday, we had to make an enforced substitution with Jordan feeling his hamstring, but having a fully-fit squad was pleasing."