Boss Dean Smith today revealed Walsall “got lucky” when they snapped up Argentine ace Emmanuel Ledesma.

The 22-year-old has played a major part in the Saddlers’ survival bid as they fight the drop from League One.

Smith’s scouts spotted him playing for Brighton reserves in January and when the Seagulls didn’t offer him a deal he swooped to sign the attacker until the end of the season.

And, despite his exhaustive searches for new talent, his most exciting signing was by chance.

“The Ledesma signing was a lucky one really,” he said. “We had someone out there watching the game and he turned up. An agent’s phone call coincided with his name being put on my desk so we invited him in. He’s done fantastically well.

“We’ve covered a lot of miles watching games. Being out of the scene for a while you are reacquainting yourself and getting in touch with old contacts and players.

“I think we’ve been astute in the market. Marc-Antoine Gbarssin wasn’t on too many people’s radars and we got him and he’s slowly and surely becoming the player we know he can be.

“I’ve always been aware of Marc Laird and I’ve been watching Jordan Cook playing for Sunderland reserves.”

The duo signed from Millwall and the Black Cats respectively to become the Saddlers’ 10th and 11th loanees of the season.

Smith has also boosted his squad since taking over in January with Tom Williams and Jason Price, although Price returned to Carlisle after an unsuccessful loan spell.

But the boss praised his new-boys’ attitude after revealing their desire is key to the Saddlers’ survival hopes.

He said: “It’s massively important. I’m not going to say everyone I’ve gone for has wanted to come, they haven’t. It’s important to me the ones who want to come are the right ones.

“The lads don’t know when they are beaten. I cast my mind back to the Tranmere game (Smith’s first game in charge in January) when we were 3-1 down with five minutes to go but came back, got the draw and could have won it.

“We seemed to have carried on that character and resilience. I always set my teams up to win games but they also know it’s important not to get beaten now.”