Players to blame for Oliver Lancashire

Walsall defender Oliver Lancashire believes the players must carry the can for the Saddlers' shocking run and jumped to the defence of boss Chris Hutchings.

The 21-year-old insists the manager isn't to blame for the five successive defeats which have sent the team plummeting into League One's relegation zone.

They head to Leyton Orient tonight for a vital clash which, if they lose and other results go against them, could send the Saddlers bottom.

Fans who watched the 2-1 defeat at Hartlepool called for Hutchings to go after a dismal start to the season, with Walsall winning just two of their opening 10 games.

But, with pressure mounting on the Walsall boss, after six straight defeats in all competitions, Lancashire insisted his players must take responsibility for their actions ahead of the clash in East London.

He said: "It's not his fault, it's definitely our fault. We've got to stick together and we're together as the 11 men who go out on the pitch, on the bench or in the stands. We all play a part and we've got to look at ourselves in the mirror and do a lot better.

"After the first three games we were looking good but since then we've gone downhill. It's five league defeats in a row now and the only people to blame are ourselves.

"Training is really good and we did well in the first-half on Saturday, but there are no excuses after the second-half performance and we have to do a lot better.

"We have to learn from it, even if we do well tonight we know we have to win again. Like most teams in this league it's going to be a battle and we have to concentrate for the whole 90 minutes - if we do that we can win.

"Last season we came 10th and this year I still don't see why we can't better that."

But the top 10 is a long way off for the beleaguered Saddlers, whose hopes of being among the early pacesetters have been shattered.

Despite dropping into the bottom four after the weekend's results, Lancashire insisted he won't be dwelling on their position.

He said: "When it gets to October the table starts to take shape but at the moment all we have to do is concentrate on ourselves, train well, be hard to beat and try to push on.

"I'm not sure if belief is lacking or our heads are going down but, in the first half on Saturday, we did quite well. In the second half we weren't at it.

"There are no excuses, we've got to look at ourselves."

With the Saddlers still searching for an elusive win, Lancashire has urged his team-mates to toughen up if they want to end their barren streak.

He said: "We've got to be harder to beat. Unfortunately we're in a habit of losing which we have to get out of quickly. We're not getting thrashed week in, week out, we're losing by one goal.

"It's something we've got to work on. It makes it more frustrating if you like because we're not getting battered. We've got to find what we need to win the game, like we did against Plymouth and Brentford.

"We've got a game tonight, which is good to get Saturday out of the system and push up the table."

Lancashire was one of three changes at Victoria Park after replacing Clayton McDonald and, with Hutchings threatening the axe tonight, is hoping to hang onto his place.

Darren Byfield, Richard Taundry and Steve Jones are still out but, with a small squad, a lot of the under-performing players will get a chance of redemption tonight.

Fellow strugglers Orient, who are 19th, head into the game having eased some pressure on manager Russell Slade with a vital 1-0 win over Brentford on Friday.

Striker Scott McGleish, who scored the winner against the Bees, is prepared to pile further misery on the Saddlers and create a fortress at the Matchroom Stadium.

He said: "We've got to make sure when teams come here it's a difficult place to play.

"We knew before the game against Brentford that if we could keep a clean sheet we could win. It's not nice being bottom.

"We knew we had to have a reaction to it."

By Nick Mashiter