Analysis of Walsall 1 Brighton 2

The tipping point has been reached and it's now time to ensure the scales fall the right way.

Three days shy of Chris Hutchings' one year anniversary, as Walsall boss his side sit 10 points adrift of the League One play-offs and seven clear of the relegation zone.

They now must decide how far they want to go, but those choices are all but out of the hands of the players – as finances always dictate.

Frantic February will define the Saddlers' season and, with little room for manoeuvre, it is imperative they speculate to accumulate.

Eight games in 26 days next month will make or break the campaign and Saturday's loss against Brighton must prove the catalyst for sustained improvement and investment.

They are performing well above what the budget should allow them to and Hutchings wants progress along with players and fans, but there is a fear they will be left to stagnate.

The squad in its current guise will struggle against the weight of eight games in February. The building blocks are there, they just need help.

They need extra nous. Hutchings is still confident no extra men are required and has repeatedly stated until a glut of injuries hits his team he will keep his powder dry. He has options and assistant Martin O'Connor revealed last week enquiries have been made, but they must be followed up if the season is to remain alive.

At such times Hutchings needs all resources available but those will be limited, such is the nature of the beast when Walsall manager.

A midfielder will be high on the hitlist, after the Saddlers' central two of Dwayne Mattis and Mark Bradley failed to shine. The pair are a frustrating enigma, the ingredients are there yet they struggle to boss games which would be meat and drink to similar players.

Wingers Peter Till and Matt Richards, for all their effort, are yet to prove they can take the Saddlers to the next level, leaving Hutchings with one or two spots to fill. The pair encapsulated a performance which was a frustrating ode to the season.

While the Saddlers' home record has been a marked improvement on recent years, they have dropped too many points in sloppy performances which should have yielded the maximum.

It's the hope which kills you, and the expectation which surrounded the Saddlers' return to action after four weeks outweighed the quality and eventual result.

In what was an awful anti-climax, the Saddlers fluffed their lines in the curtain raiser for the second act following their mid-season interval. On paper it is difficult to split Walsall and Brighton, aside from the six places which separate them in League One.

But the on-pitch differences were all too obvious – as Brighton had only lost one game to the weather, compared to the Saddlers' five. The Seagulls were too slick and clinical for the out-of-sorts hosts, as first Glenn Murray and then Nicky Forster proved too good.

Richards' equaliser yielded brief hope as the Saddlers ended wishing for another postponement. But playing again was the easy part, now comes the daunting prospect of a season defining six weeks in which Walsall will either sink or swim.

They returned after five games and four weeks out of action, looking rusty as they failed to get to grips with Brighton's movement. The home faithful would have been wishing the team were still on hiatus, after Albion raced out of the traps to leave the Saddlers trailing.

Murray had already missed Forster's cutback but made no mistake, racing onto Elliott Bennett's cute throughball to tuck past goalkeeper Clayton Ince less than 10 minutes in.

Despite coming so early the strike was of little surprise, as Brighton dominated ring-rusty Walsall who struggled to string their passes together.

Andrew Crofts and Forster both went close again as Walsall failed to make a significant impact at the other end, until they levelled out of the blue on 26 minutes.

Richards skipped past two half-hearted challenges before driving the ball goalwards and neither goalkeeper Michael Kuipers or Marcos Painter could keep it out.

To say it had been coming would be fibbing, but for a few moments the goal gave the Saddlers a timely lift until Forster's bit of magic. The hosts failed to clear a corner and when Tommy Elphick directed it into his path, the striker produced an acrobatic scissor kick at the far post which flew past Ince.

That Brighton had regained the lead was unsurprising, that it was only a one goal margin wasn't. But the Saddlers should have had a penalty minutes before the break, when Darren Byfield was hauled down by Adam Virgo only for his claims to be rejected by referee Graham Horwood.

Seconds later the striker was out of luck again, prodding wide from six yards. It heralded an improved display from the hosts, as Brighton couldn't find the panache of their first-half performance.

Sam Parkin was thrown on to add gusto to the frontline and headed over, as the hosts finally began to pin their opponents back after the break. Brighton were under pressure but held firm, too often they won headers and cleared their lines without sufficient difficulty.

But while the Saddlers' efforts were valiant, they never looked like levelling and Troy Deeney saw a last gasp effort blocked by Virgo.

Not the result to mark Hutchings' anniversary, but one which could tempt him into action.

By Nick Mashiter