Vincent looks to unite the Saddlers

Walsall defender Jamie Vincent has moved to unite the team but insists they must take responsibility after Troy Deeney's public outburst rocked the Saddlers.

Striker Deeney accused his team-mates of lacking heart yesterday after the 2-0 defeat at Leyton Orient on Saturday, but stand-in captain Vincent has rallied the troops.

The 34-year-old, captain while Mark Hughes sits on the bench, believes it is time the Saddlers stood up to be counted.

He said: "I do feel a responsibility and I beat myself up about it when we lose. We all need to do that, we all need to realise where we can improve.

"We need to go away and think about where we went wrong and work hard to put things right.

"We've got a lot of talent but it's about realising it. It's a learning curve but we need to learn quickly. We talk about looking up but we don't want to be looking down."

But Vincent admits the Saddlers need to be told where they are going wrong and cannot bury their heads in the sand.

He said: "Sometimes when you don't show people they think 'oh, I haven't done too badly today,' and they go away feeling happy so you need to be told. Everyone, from the management to the players.

"We're all in it together but you need to dig each other out, so you know where you're going wrong and need to improve.

"It's not about slaughtering someone to the point of them going inside themselves but you need to point out where people are going wrong."

The Saddlers' play-off hopes are in tatters as they sit 13th in League One and Vincent is baffled by their inconsistent performances.

He said: "We train well and that's what's confusing the coaches. We work hard and look good, but half the time we come out on a Saturday and don't show anything we have done in the week.

"It's hard to explain, if you train so well during the week what's the difference on a Saturday? You can put yourself on display.

"We don't play as well as we train, that's the bottom line."