Nicky Devlin: Walsall facing a pivotal week

The Saddlers, who saw their clash with Bradford postponed yesterday, currently sit 18th in the table, just four points above the drop zone. But their next three matches are all against sides currently below them in the division with a home game against Bury on Saturday followed by clashes against Oldham and AFC Wimbledon.

And Devlin says all the players are aware just how important the next 10 days will be in defining their season.

“This next week was always going to be a pivotal week in the season,” the Scotsman said.“We are getting towards the end and it’s so tight.

“And now we have got three games against teams below us.

“It’s going to be three really hard games. But we need to make sure we pick points up and get ourselves out of the position we are in.

“It starts with a massive game against Bury. We need to make sure we get the three points.”

Walsall slipped to a 1-0 loss against Portsmouth last weekend with a mistake from Devlin playing a part in the game’s only goal.

And the defender believes without that error, the team would have held on for a point, stopping a run that has now seen them lose their last four games. “I have to hold my hands up and say it was my mistake against Portsmouth that led to their goal,” the full-back continued.

“We should have taken something from the game we know that. Defensively, we were a lot better than we have been.

“But despite that result our confidence is still high. We may not have been getting the results. But we know if we turn up we can win any game.”

Devlin said all the players were disappointed yesterday’s clash at Bradford was postponed – with all the squad desperate to get more points on the board.

“We were disappointed,” the former Ayr United man said. “As much as we only had a one day turnaround, we wanted the game on.

“If you ask any of the boys, and the management as well, we wanted to get out there and try and get some points on the board. Now though all our attention is on beating Bury.”

Meanwhile, Devlin said new boss Dean Keates is working hard to tighten the team up defensively whilst also making sure they score more goals.

“He (Keates) has made us more structured and he wants us to be harder to score against,” the defender added. “He has emphasised that we need to keep the ball out the back of the net.

“I’m sure we would have done that on Saturday if I hadn’t got my timings wrong with the clearance. We know we are getting closer to getting clean sheets and that will of course lead to more points and more victories. “You can see with the way he speaks to the strikers as well that he is trying to help them and bring goals to their game.

“All-round, he is trying to stamp his authority on to the team.”