Jason Demetriou: That's for you boss

Walsall's Jason Demetriou has dedicated his stoppage-time winning goal against Gillingham to manager Dean Smith.

The defender netted for the first time in Saddlers colours to secure a remarkable 3-2 victory – a result which saw Smith's side leapfrog their opponents and return to the top of League One.

Earlier in the week, Demetriou revealed he had been getting stick from his boss for failing to break his goalscoring duck for the club.

And the defender, a summer signing from Cyprus club Anorthosis Famagusta, is delighted to open his account.

"The manager had been giving me a bit of stick so that goal is dedicated to him," he said. "He brought me back to English football, it's payback and a thank-you for bringing me to Walsall. The ball fell to me and I said to myself 'just hit it'.

[comments_cta header="What do you think?" text="Can Walsall win promotion?" button="Log in and start commenting"]

"Luckily it went in the back of the net, but most importantly it secured a great win for the boys and took us back to the top of the table."

Walsall make up the top four with Burton Albion, Gillingham and Coventry – three sides they have all beaten in front of their own fans this season.

And Demetriou believes those results prove the Saddlers are genuine promotion contenders.

"They are the pressure games – where you need to stand up and be counted," the 27-year-old said.

"The boys have done an excellent job.

Hopefully we can stay in the running for the rest of the season. It's just belief now.

"I think slowly we are starting to think we can stay up there and we are one of the best teams in the league so it is all down to us what we do from now on."

As well as opening his account for Walsall, Demetriou also scored his first goal for Cyprus in the win over Israel on October 10.

Forced to pick, he admitted the Saddlers goal was his favourite. "This was more exciting," he said.