Stephen Ward: Time for Walsall to show character

The Saddlers are hoping to pick up their first victory under Matt Taylor as Stevenage visit the Banks's Stadium on Saturday.

And full-back Ward realises the importance of rising to the occasion after three defeats and a draw so far this season.

"We need to come back in front of our own fans and show some character, show some resilience, and make sure we pick up a positive result," he said.

"We need to kick-start our season as soon as possible.

"One result can change everything. We need to focus on getting that first win because we've had performances.

"Against Scunthorpe, we played really well and should have won the game.

"We started well against Forest Green and then had a 20-minute spell where we lost the game.

"We played well in the cup against Doncaster, and the Tranmere game was fairly even and could have gone either way.

"There have been spells and performances, but Hartlepool over the 90 minutes was probably the most disappointing.

"We need to regroup, recover having played a lot of games in a short space of time, and get ready to go again – lift that confidence a bit."

Ex-Wolves man Ward joined Walsall earlier this summer and on if their early form has come as a surprise, he added: "It has come as a surprise as we were very confident going into the season in terms of the players we have, the squad we have, and the way pre-season had gone.

"It is a surprise but also at my age, nothing surprises you in football. Things aren't always going to go how you expect them to.

"We'll get ourselves ready to go again and, hopefully, build that bit of confidence."