Walsall will not appeal Hughes' red

Walsall will not appeal Mark Hughes' red card after boss Chris Hutchings admitted they were unlikely to succeed - despite his anger at the decision.

The Saddlers captain was sent off in first-half stoppage time for a tackle on Ashley Vincent in the Saddlers' 1-0 win over Colchester on Saturday.

Hughes will be suspended for three games – starting with tomorrow's trip to Southend – and Hutchings is upset at losing his skipper because of referee Geoff Eltringham's decision.

The manager said: "Normally, 99.9 per cent of the time you never win an appeal so it falls on deaf ears. The sending off was a turning point, the referee must have been the only one to deem it as a red. The decision went against us and the less said about it the better.

"My first reaction was that it was a poor decision. We've got the fourth official watching it face on, the lineswomen was on our side of the pitch and I didn't agree with the decision."

But after reviewing video footage the Saddlers have decided against appealing, meaning Hughes will also miss games at Exeter and Stockport.

His absence could potentially hand a first-team lifeline to contract rebel Manny Smith, who hasn't played in over a month.

Rhys Weston also returned to training today following his hamstring injury, to bolster the backline and combat Hughes' suspension.

Hutchings has now called on his men to prove they have staying power after victory, thanks to Darren Byfield's last gasp strike, moved them up to 12th in League One.

He said: "It's a big test and we haven't done it too often this season. On the odd occasion we have and that's the test to the players, to win as many until the end of the season."

The Saddlers go to Southend tomorrow bidding to make it two on the trot and Hutchings has told them they must forget their weekend heroics and tackle the Shrimpers.

He said: "It's testament to us but the boys were in yesterday and we have to see whether we can do it at Southend.

"It's hard when you're down to 10 men but we did it on Saturday, can we do it Tuesday and the following Saturday? Let's see if we can."