Selection headache for Saddlers

Walsall are facing a mounting selection crisis with four key men set to be sidelined by injury or suspension.

Clayton McDonald's red card in last night's 3-0 defeat at Southend will net the defender a three match ban – a suspension skipper Mark Hughes is already serving after his dismissal against Colchester on Saturday.

Matt Richards limped out at Roots Hall with an ankle injury while Dwayne Mattis is also a massive doubt for the weekend's trip to Exeter with a reoccurrence of his Achilles problem.

And boss Chris Hutchings says he might be forced into changes.

"We're away again at Exeter, we need to regroup and with the suspensions and injuries we've got it makes things different and difficult so we might have to change things round a bit," he said.

"That's where we are so we'll deal with it. We've got what we're dealt with and we're going to deal with it and hope to put it right on Saturday."

Hutchings hasn't ruled Richards and Mattis out of the trip south but admits the next few days are crucial.

"We took Dwayne off because his Achilles was sore and we were thinking about Saturday so we had to change things round," he said.

"Matt got a kick in the ankle and it's swollen up. He'll be assessed today, and it'll be 24 to 48 hours before we know how long it's going to be."

And Hutchings also apologised to the 107 travelling Walsall fans who made the 300 mile round trip to Essex to watch their side capitulate.

He said: "I'm sure they'll be wondering who is going to be playing on Saturday after that.

"We didn't put on a show for them and we've done that too many times this season, look at Orient and one or two other games. We don't turn up and then we bounce back with good performances."