Express & Star

Martin O'Connor: Walsall ‘have let fans down’

Caretaker boss Martin O’Connor admits Walsall’s fans have every right to feel let down by recent performances.

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And the 51-year-old has told his players it’s time they walked the walk instead of talking the talk.

The Saddlers host relegation rivals Southend tomorrow in a match that is going to have a huge say in what division they are in next year.

O’Connor’s side enter the clash having lost in each of their last six outings.

And the boss admits the time has come for the players to put in some big performances.

“When you are where we are, every game is a big game,” O Connor said.

“Accrington was a big game, Barnsley was a big game, Oxford was a big game, Doncaster was a big game, now we now need big performances.

“Over the last couple of weeks we have really let the fans down and we let the club down.

“It’s time to stop coming up with excuses and start walking the walk instead of talking the talk.

“That is everybody. The staff, myself and the players. We need to come out and show a positive attitude and a high performance level.”

Walsall put in a dreadful display in their previous outing at Accrington.

Following that performance, O’Connor called the players in for a team meeting on Sunday morning.

And now he expects to see a reaction against Southend tomorrow.

“We regrouped on Sunday morning and cleared the air,” O’Connor continued.

“We had a meeting and a few things were said by myself and there were a few comments from the boys as well.

“We aired our frustrations and disappointments and then we all came in on Monday and trained hard and they have trained hard since.

“I am looking to see a reaction from them tomorrow.”

Morgan Ferrier and Corey Blacett-Taylor both missed the Accrington game through injury.

And O’Connor says the pair are still being monitored ahead of tomorrow’s game.

“Morgan and Corey are players we are monitoring daily at the moment,” he added.

“We can only play with players who are fit and available for us.

“If you aren’t fit, you are not going to affect our team until you are fit so whatever we have got on Friday is what we will have.”