Nicholls will round on his doubters

Walsall striker Alex Nicholls has insisted he will round on his doubters if given a chance as speculation surrounding his future rumbles on.

The 22-year-old hasn't started in four months but scored the winner in the reserves' 2-1 win over Leicester City yesterday.

Nicholls is out of contract in the summer and has been linked with a move away from the Banks's Stadium but wants to prove his critics wrong.

He said: "If and when I get a chance, it will make me more determined to do well and turn around to throw it back into certain people's faces that I am good enough to play and should have been picked from the start.

"It's the way I think, I'm quite ruthless and it's the way you have to be in football. I've seen over the years you have to be ruthless and you're in it for yourself to a certain extent.

"You have to play for the team as well, but doing that isn't going to help you become the best you can be in your career."

But Nicholls, who has two goals this season, refuses to be downbeat.

He said: "If you sulk you're kidding yourself. If I sulk I've got no chance of getting back into the first team. If I play well and do well then I've got a chance. I'm not one to sulk but at times it's hard to keep going, because you feel you're doing well and not getting anywhere.

"It's all about being positive, believing in your own game and that you're a good player."

Nicholls, who has played just 83 minutes since October, will continue to fight Darren Byfield, Troy Deeney and Sam Parkin, who also scored yesterday, for a striking berth.

He said: "Look at the games I played last season, I don't feel I was at my best at all. I was playing out of position, I can do a job on the right but I've got so much more to give up front.

"In the reserves I've been playing well in my favoured position, but it's just a matter of being patient.

"I have spoken to the manager and know what his thinking is, so it's a matter of being patient and ready for my chance if it comes."