Dean Keates: 14 teams fighting the drop

Walsall’s boss believing 14 teams are still in the scrap.

The Saddlers currently sit 20th in the division, one place and two points above the bottom four.

But with Bristol Rovers having the benefit of a game in hand, Walsall could soon find themselves below the dreaded dotted line.

Despite their lowly position, Keates’ men are just two points behind Southend, who sit in 13th place.

And he feels there are a host of teams above Walsall in the table who are still looking over their shoulders.

“There are nine teams in a relegation battle now and that’s just the teams above us,” Keates said.

“Then, of course, there are the four teams below.

“It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be tight and there are going to be twists and turns.

“There may even be a point when we find ourselves in the relegation slots. But we won’t panic.

“The players have shown over the past few weeks they care about the football club. And they will give everything to make sure we are not in that bottom four on the final day.”

Walsall host mid-table on Fleetwood on Saturday having followed up their win over Bradford by drawing at Burton last weekend.

After the visit of the Cod Army, the next three fixtures see the Saddlers take on Portsmouth, Sunderland and Barnsley ­– sides all competing for automatic promotion.

But while that run of games looks tough on paper, Keates insists it doesn’t put any extra pressure on the Fleetwood game.

“Against the top teams we have performed well this season,” the boss added.

“There is pressure on the next game, there is pressure on every game.

“We want to get something out of the game at the weekend because we will feel that puts us in a little bit of form.

“It’s Portsmouth, Sunderland, Barnsley after that. But we’ll go into those games ready.”