Dean Smith: A week can change everything

Whether Dean Smith's observation, made yesterday, that 'a day' is a long time in football acquires the same kind of fame, only time will tell.

At the very least, it neatly summed up the situation Walsall and their manager find themselves in ahead of tomorrow's trip to Fleetwood.

Seven days ago, his team were on a four game unbeaten run which was soon to become five with Saturday's 0-0 draw with Peterborough, before Tuesday's meek FA Cup exit at League Two Shrewsbury somewhat soured the mood. But Smith is not the sort to panic.

"Last Friday we were sitting here and everything was good," he says. "Just because we have gone out of the cup at Shrewsbury, for me, it is not all bad.

"For the last month we have been very good and I am certainly not going to lose sight of the previous six games, where we played very well.

"I can't be reactive to just one result. The bigger picture is the last month we have been good, won two out of the three league games and have another tough one now against Fleetwood."

There are some, however, who would like Smith to act quickly in the main area which is holding his team back, namely goal-scoring.

Two games without Tom Bradshaw drew two blanks and the top scorer, with six of the Saddlers 14 league goals this term, is again likely to be missing tomorrow.

Smith, unsurprisingly, is keen to stress patience where the rest of the forward line are concerned.

"You have to remember we have a new frontline, so to speak, and Tom has hit the ground running quicker than the others," he adds.

"It does take time and I just think back to when Will Grigg was here. It took him time, he was getting an awful lot of stick up to November from a section of the supporters and then he went on a goal burst.

"It's about people understanding each other's games and getting involved, understanding how we play and converting chances."

He admits, however, it will ultimately be down to the players to put the ball in the net.

"I was disappointed with the reaction from an awful lot of people on Saturday because we were excellent against Peterborough," he said. "The stats were incredible, we had 51 entries into their penalty box, 17 attempts on goal.

"I thought we were the better team by a long way, the fact we didn't score a goal has nothing to do with tactics. If you are getting 17 chances and 24 at Crawley, people need to take responsibility and put the ball in the back of the net. We know that."

Changes to the team are likely in the wake of the Shrewsbury performance but Smith, as you would expect, will not rip things up completely.

"We won't lose sight of what we have been doing to get where we are in the last few weeks."