Deeney will escape Walsall rap

Walsall have confirmed striker Troy Deeney will escape disciplinary action after his outburst as manager Chris Hutchings moved to end the storm.

The Saddlers' top scorer slammed his colleagues on Monday after their 2-0 defeat at Leyton Orient last weekend, claiming they lacked commitment.

Ahead of Saturday's visit of Colchester, Hutchings will speak to the striker but the 11-goal hitman will escape a rap.

He said: "It's finished with, we're disappointed but emotions run high and you say things you'd like to keep in the dressing room. He's aired his views but we've drawn a line under it now."

Deeney's comments may have upset the harmony at the club but the squad are set to move on and concentrate on hitting back against Colchester.

Hutchings admits his men are desperate to face the U's and address the Orient result, looking to fix their poor home form which has seen them win just once in their last nine Banks's Stadium outings.

He said: "When you lose a game you want to put it right as quickly as you can. We've waited a week but that's been thrown at us.

"We've been a bit unfortunate with the results we've had at home. Take the last one (2-2 against Millwall), we went down to 10 men, we defended and blocked and were undone by a fantastic strike.

"We could feel a little hard done by that."

But the boss concedes his men have to start showing some form in the final 11 games of the season and prove they are worth a place in his team.

He said: "We've been on about it all season. Those who show the consistency are in the top six and those who don't are always floundering trying to get there.

"We've had one good result and then been off the boil the next. We prepare and work hard when we have good games, so we have to look at it why it keeps happening.

"Are we good enough or aren't we?"

Defender Rhys Weston is still out with a hamstring injury, but Hutchings has no other injury worries.