Walsall boss Dean Smith has urged the Saddlers to show no mercy in their quest for League One survival.

The manager wants his men to pile the misery on their relegation rivals with a win against Charlton on Saturday.

Victory for the Saddlers and defeats for Dagenham & Redbridge and Bristol Rovers would send the duo down to League Two.

And Smith admitted, with two games to go and his fifth-bottom side a point above the drop zone, it’s dog eat dog.

He said: “When I took over my sole aim was to keep us in the league and that hasn’t changed – regardless of who we beat and who goes down. That’s their concern and not mine.

“In golfing terms we could be going down the last because we’ve put ourselves in such a good position. For other teams, they might not get the chance to go down the last.

“I am thankful we’re in this position and we’ve got the chance to finish off the job, which we’ve worked so hard on.”

Dagenham host Carlisle, Rovers welcome Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth go to Exeter in a West Country derby.

The Pilgrims cannot go down on Saturday because they have a game in hand – at home to Southampton on Monday – but Smith insisted the heat is on the trio below Walsall.

He said: “The onus is on them. Everyone talks about pressure in football but there’s pressure on everyone. The pressure is probably more on them because they need to win to get above us.

“We’re in the driving seat being out of the drop zone even though Plymouth have a game in hand – which will be a tough one because it’s against Southampton.

“People have already gone through the connotations of Plymouth winning, drawing and losing, but we’ll take each game as it comes.

“I said before Easter there would be a different picture come Tuesday. I didn’t think it would mean us getting two draws and being out of the bottom four but I‘ll certainly take it.”

Smith wants his men to keep their cool in the final game of the season at the Banks’s Stadium.

He said: “You have to keep your discipline, not just in tackling but in the game plan. That’s massively important.

“I speak about the mental side of the game and keeping emotional control and the players have done that really well.”

Aaron Lescott is out of Walsall’s Saturday home clash with a knee injury.

The Saddlers hoped to have the defender back but he is still sidelined by the injury he picked up against Swindon seven weeks ago.

Smith, who is also without Clayton McDonald with a dislocated shoulder, said: “Aaron is still struggling, we were hoping to have him back.

“We’ll give him as much time as he needs and hopefully he can make the last game at Southampton and give us options.”