Walsall boss Smith hails his match-winner

Manset's 23rd-minute goal was enough to earn the Saddlers a 1-0 victory at Rochdale last night in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy second round.

And Smith, who made six changes to the side which drew 1-1 with Bristol City on Saturday, was impressed by a number of individual performances including that of the striker.

"It was a really well-worked goal," said Smith. "I told him what I wanted him to do, to occupy the centre-halves.

"He worked really hard and took the goal really well. That's what he can do."

Smith's side ran out relatively comfortable winners as the hosts struggled to create clear cut chances. Ian Henderson hit the bar early on and Matt Done saw a header cleared off the line by Andy Taylor but the second period saw little action at either end.

The win means the Saddlers are into the third round of the competition for the first time in eight years and also earned them revenge over the Dale for the 4-0 defeat they suffered at Spotland last month.

Smith added: "People were saying we were coming back to exorcise demons but I felt we had already done that. It was a really good performance. Defensively we were excellent. We knew they were a good team because we found that out a few weeks ago.

"We came with a different plan last night and got it right."

Smith has also been boosted by the news forward Tom Bradshaw's injury is not as bad as feared. The Saddlers' top scorer underwent a scan to determine the extent of a hamstring injury which revealed there is no tear and Smith expects the 22-year-old to be out for just "one or two weeks".