Troy Deeney today cranked up the play-off heat and warned Walsall’s rivals all the pressure is on them.

The striker struck twice in last night’s 3-0 home win over Oldham which moved the Saddlers to ninth in League One – two points off the top six.

And Deeney says Walsall are primed to capitalise on any slip-ups after a comfortable win over the Latics.

“They’ve got all the pressure, we’ve got the freedom to keep doing what we’re doing,” he said. “If we come off the rails, blow up and lose five or six games no one says anything, everyone will think ‘that was bound to happen’ but if we keep this run going and other teams start slipping up – like MK Dons – we’ve got a chance.

“At the start of the season people put us down and said we weren’t going to do anything so it’s nice to know our hard work is finally coming to the forefront.”

The 21-year-old’s strikes ended a mini drought of six games and he revealed his disappointment that he only has six goals this season.

“I’d still been getting assists so I was happy with how I’d been playing,” he said.

“But to only have six goals now is quite disappointing. I’ve had a few more chances to score more so I need to kick on from here and see how many I can get. I should still be scoring more and hopefully I can go on a little run.

“If I didn’t go on the run towards the end of last season I would’ve had about three goals but I’m glad I’m scoring more consistently now, rather than waiting months for the goals.”

Steve Jones bagged his eighth goal of the season – and seventh in eight games – against the Latics with Darren Byfield producing another impressive display, but Deeney dismissed the win was just down to the trio.

He said: “We couldn’t do it without the other boys, it’s a good team effort but us three are creating chances and scoring goals. If we can do that through the season we won’t be far off the play-offs.”