Walsall defender Rhys Weston has revealed a promotion advantage as they use the big freeze to plot their play-off assault – the element of surprise.

The Saddlers have two games in hand on many of their play-off rivals because of the enforced break, which has seen them go almost three weeks without playing.

Saturday’s trip to Southend is also likely to fall victim to the cold as the Shrimpers don’t have frost covers to protect the Roots Hall pitch.

But the Saddlers have remained 10th in League One and Weston expects them to maintain a play-off challenge because they are underdogs.

The defender said: “It’s a different kind of pressure because I don’t think people expected us to be challenging. At the start of the season people were asking ‘have Walsall got enough to finish mid table, are they going to be in a relegation fight?’

“We haven’t been caught up in that, we’ve been concentrating on the job in hand.”

The Saddlers were winless in their last three before the sub-zero temperatures claimed the fixtures and Weston believes the team are primed to hit back once they start playing again.

He said: “If anything has come out of the season so far it is the level of trust developing in the players. When results start going against you go inward and concentrate solely on what you’re doing but now people are working for each other. We have the utmost confidence in our defenders, midfielders and attackers.

“That’s a fantastic attitude to have. If we avoid back-to-back defeats it’s a mark of a strong team. We’ve managed to do that on most occasions this year.”

Walsall’s rearranged League One game against Charlton at the Banks’s Stadium is now on Tuesday February 2 (7.45pm).