Michael Flynn calls on Walsall players to ‘snap out’ of bad run

Flynn was far from happy with the performance against Sutton, where a last-minute equaliser from Isaac Hutchinson saw them get a point in a 1-1 draw.

The boss again lamented their inability to get to second balls first, an area he also identified at Wimbledon as making a difference between being competitive in the game for the 90 minutes.

He said: “There were passes going astray, we didn’t compete enough at times and at others we looked nervous or afraid to make a mistake.

“Whether that was playing in front of the home fans I’m not sure because it was the same at Wimbledon when there weren’t as many there. It might be because they think there isn’t much to play for now but I can assure them there is in every game, we are not winning and that’s not acceptable.

“We are in a tough place and need to snap out of it and quickly because there is a lot of football still to be played including three more home games and that performance and other recent ones have not been good enough.

“We have given them pointers and markers for each game, we work hard in training on set plays which we have fallen down on in games recently, they just don’t seem to be taking it out onto the field with them at times.”

Flynn did take some positives out of the game, including the return of Jamille Matt as he came on as a second half substitute.

“He said: “Jamille is not A1 in terms of fitness but did well when he came on, he had a header which he might have scored, had he been fully fit, and played his part in getting the free-kick which led to the goal.

“Joss (Labadie) as well has just come back and almost scored, so he gives us more options.

“In the second half it was us who created the chances not that there were many but they didn’t really get a look in attacking-wise so that’s positive and we stuck together which was pleasing to see.

“The fact we did that probably carried us through to the 95th minute when we got the equaliser.

“So the spirit is there but we need to get the basics right and fast.

“Only the players can do that on the pitch.”