Walsall boss Chris Hutchings struggles to contain his contempt when asked about the importance of the forthcoming month.

A swift rebuke follows as the manager insists on the typical footballing mantra of one game at a time.

Sitting at the Saddlers’ Essington training ground, he bats away any suggestion of March being any more crucial to play-off hopes than February.

But the next seven games, in 25 breathless days, starting with Scunthorpe on Tuesday, will shape the Saddlers’ season.

A point haul of 15 or more would see them stay in contention. Just. Anything less would see the foundations for next season being laid.

That Walsall are even allowed to mention the play-offs is down to the impact Hutchings and his assistant Martin O’Connor have had in just 40 short days and nights.

But it would be churlish not to recognise a run of biblical proportions is needed to gatecrash the promotion spots – and you’re not going to find Hutchings coming over all Mystic Meg.

He said: “If you look too far ahead you can have your feet ripped away, so we’re not even looking at it.  It’s no bigger than the month we had before when we played Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday.

“The most important game is the next and the rest will take care of themselves. There are plenty of games but everyone seems to be able to beat one another.

“You have to make sure you concentrate on yourself and hopefully you get the results – you can’t affect what other people do.”

There is no doubt Hutchings has added substance. His arrival has altered the dynamics.  Why else would the play-offs continued to be mentioned.

Last Saturday’s win at Northampton highlighted the extra guile in the side in a game they would have lost two short months ago.

It’s that resolve that is needed again with trips to Southend and Orient surrounded by visits of Brighton, Crewe, Bristol Rovers and Cheltenham.

Hutchings said: “Confidence comes with winning and while there will be slip-ups along the way. WE must bounce back from them.

“When I was at Bradford, and certainly at Wigan, if we had a slip up we always bounced back. That’s the sign of a decent side.

“Carlisle and Hartlepool were tough places to go, especially back-to-back, but we came away with points.

“Then you need to win your home games and we beat Colchester, who were probably the form team in the division at the time.

“Then we won at Northampton last week with a very workmanlike performance and it was good to get back-to-back wins under our belts.

“We’ll just keep going and as long as the play-offs are a mathematical possibility, we’ll strive to get in there.”