Walsall v Oxford: Centurion Luke Leahy just wants a win

But Luke Leahy knows points are the only thing that matter as Walsall battle to stay in League One.

Dean Keates’ side enter the game sitting in the bottom four and with just six games left to save themselves from the drop.

And while Leahy is pleased to be closing in on a century of appearances, he knows Walsall’s position in the table means there is no longer any margin for error.

“It’ll be 100 games for me if I am selected tomorrow – that is brilliant for me,” the full-back said.

“But the position we are in, we have six games left and there isn’t any room for error at the moment.

“It is very tight down there. There are a lot of teams fighting to stay in the league and we have to take every chance possible now.

“It is still in our own hands because we have got to play five of the six teams that are around us.

“I’m confident by giving our all in these six games we will get out of it.”

Walsall were embroiled in the relegation scrap last year and went on to get out of trouble.

And with the pressure now ramped up again, Leahy believes the experience of last season will help the team this time around.

“You can feel the tension in the stadiums that you go to which is bound to happen but you have got to ignore that and play your own game,” he continued.

“Every team will be feeling it and every player who is looking at the league table will be feeling it as well.

“But we definitely have the characters needed to get out of it.

“We did it last season and I am very confident that we will do it again this season.

“We have been in this situation before and we know how to deal with it.

“Positive energy is the main thing. You need to come into training with a smile on your face and we need everyone to stick together.”

Walsall enter tomorrow’s game having faced promotion chasers Portsmouth, Sunderland, Barnsley and Doncaster in their last four outings.

You could make a case they should have taken something from all four of those matches.

But they lost each one, and Leahy admits they have to find a way to start winning games again.

“We have to believe in what we are doing,” he added.

“Before the Doncaster game we had three good performances and we have to try and build off those but we have to get results at the end of the day.

“We have got to find a way to start winning games because we haven’t been doing that recently.

“We have to keep believing, it isn’t over and done with yet. There are still a lot of teams down there in the same place we are so we have to rise above it and start with three points tomorrow.”

Likely line-up:

The boss says:

Oxford were below us a few weeks ago but they have had some good results. We can use them as an example.

Memory lane:

Goals from Paul Hall, Jorge Leitao and Brett Angell saw Walsall beat Oxford 3-2 in August 2000.

Key man:

Corey Blackett-Taylor. The winger is close to his first goal. If he gets one, you feel the floodgates will open.