Hutchings pays tribute to defence

Walsall manager Chris Hutchings hailed his defence as they claimed their first away clean sheet in the league since September at Gillingham.

The Saddlers battled to a hard earned point at the Priestfield Stadium on Saturday as they kept Simeon Jackson and Rene Howe at bay with a series of last ditch tackles.

Manny Smith, Clayton McDonald and Jamie Vincent all defended with their lives to leave Hutchings purring.

He said: "They did well and they get a pat on the back. Games are coming thick and fast and it's nice to stop the rot after losing a couple of games on the spin, it's nice to pick up a point on your travels.

"We had a couple of timely blocks with Manny and Clayton at the end, Jamie got in there as well. It was hard earned, it's nice to get a clean sheet so we have something to build on.

"The pitch looked good but it was quite lively and it was a hard earned point. The back four had to defend really well and they did that. Clayton (Ince) has pulled off some good saves as well and we could have sneaked it at the end."

Despite the point, the Saddlers slipped back to 13^th in League One but stretched the gap between them and the relegation zone to six points.

And Hutchings conceded he was happy with the result because of Gillingham's impressive home record, with the Gills having lost just twice in Kent all season.

"We're pleased with a point because we know we can play better than that. They got hold of the ball and kept it a little better than us," he said.

"You expect to be under pressure, they were the home team and when we're at home we expect to put the opposition under pressure. We know we had to concentrate for 90 minutes because they have two good strikers who can pounce at any time.

"They are always going to be a threat with Howe and Jackson and we had to be on our toes, Jackson got in a couple of times and they are thinking they were probably unlucky.

"They are very good at home and have relied on it a little bit because their away form hasn't been so good so that's where they are picking their points up."

The result was a start of a frantic fixture list for the Saddlers, who play eight times in February, and Hutchings wants to use it as the starting point for success ahead of tomorrow's visit of Charlton.

He said: "We've got home games coming up and we've got to use Saturday to help turn our form around. You can't afford to lose a game, there are no specific ones and you take each on merit.

"We can say we couldn't afford to lose against Norwich because we lost three points but we were delighted to get a point on Saturday."

Gillingham boss Mark Stimson was frustrated with the result, which saw his side booed off at the end.

He said: "We had so many shots which didn't go in, I'll go and buy a lottery ticket and probably win.

"We have to earn the right to win. The players know that and I need 20 players who all want to win."