Dean Smith: Ashley Grimes is no bad boy

Grimes has been booked more than any other Saddlers player this season and was shown his third yellow card of the campaign during the first half of Tuesday night's game, after kicking the ball away.

He almost got another for exactly the same offence early in the second period, with Smith later admitting that "by the letter of the law" the 27-year-old could have been dismissed.

Good discipline is one of the key lessons Smith teaches his players, with the Saddlers having won the division's fair play award last year.

Yet while he believes Grimes was silly, Smith feels the forward has only been guilty of over-eagerness.

"I haven't had chance to sit down with him yet," said Smith. "His explanation to the referee was that he did not hear the whistle and the referee accepted that.

"I said on the night that their lad should have been booked for diving because it was never a free-kick.

"If he had been sent off for kicking the ball away, it would have been a very silly reaction. He has a number of bookings already and a few of them were very harsh as well."

The manager added: "It is a sign of how eager he is and how eager all the team are.

"We got the fair play award last year and we are up there again with no red cards and very few yellow cards as well.

"The discipline side of things, for me, is very important because it shows we are doing the right kind of things, staying on our feet and not getting involved with referees or things we can't control."

Grimes set up Mathieu Manset to score the only goal of the game at Spotland and Smith believes it will boost both players' confidence.

"He is not the best tackler in the world, like a few of my players, but what he does is what we saw for the goal, a superb slide rule pass to put Manny in for his first goal," he said.

"It was really pleasing. It will give both of them a boost.

"Jordan Cook went on trying to get his first goal too."