Brian Dutton calls for clarity on Walsall future following Scunthorpe victory

The 36-year-old originally signed a deal until the end of the season with the view of extending that if he proved to be a success.

Following a disappointing few months for the club Dutton’s future was still uncertain and the manager has now hinted that the 2-0 win over The Iron could be his last game in charge.

When asked what the result means for his future, he said: “I don’t know to be honest, it’s cloudy. There’s no clarity in terms of my own position and where I’m heading, that’s for sure.

“All I can say is, I’m very proud of my achievements as Walsall head coach. That probably goes over the top of people’s heads when I say that because they look at the results.

“But in context I feel I’ve been dealt a tough, tough hand. As a one-man band coming in for my first opportunity as a manager and to do that with a team that has won one game in seven and that was with Elijah Adebayo at hand.

“Sinking ship would be about right. What I’ve done since then, I’ve not got the results everyone wanted but I’ve united the academy with the first team and we can see a clear pathway there.

“I’ve brought players to the football club that have been sold on for money. Elijah Adebayo and Zak Jules.

“I’ve also brought through Sam Perry and I don’t think he’ll be at the football club very long if he carries on performing on that trajectory.

“That’s our sixth clean sheet and we had three in the league prior to me getting the job. Caolan Lavery is having his most prolific season and has scored four goals under my tenure.

“I’m quite proud of my achievements. It hasn’t been easy, it’s been tough and I’ve had to take a lot of criticism, which is fine and fair.

“But the context is it was a tough gig and at the very least I’ve managed to get some young boys on the pitch and create an infrastructure that will hold the club in good stead moving forward.”

When pushed further on his future, Dutton added: “I don’t know whether I’m going to be here or not. It’s difficult for me to comment on things.

“It was a tough game to concentrate on. I should have clarity but I don’t.”

Walsall put in an assured and comfortable performance against Scunthorpe as goals for Emmanuel Osadebe and Josh Gordon sured up the points.

Regarding the result and performance, Dutton said: “I’m very pleased. We’ve been guilty in the past of apologising after going a goal up and going into our shells.

“We didn’t see that today. We saw an authority about the lads. They were desperate to get that win and clean sheet.

“Credit to the lads, I couldn’t be more pleased for them.”