Byfield blames divorce for poor form

Darren Byfield today revealed the pain of his divorce is behind his poor form and admitted he had to be shocked back to his senses by the Walsall management.

The striker made his first start in over a month in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stockport but has only scored once in his last 16 outings.

Byfield split from pop star wife Jamelia late last year and says the problems in his personal life spilled onto the pitch.

He said: "I definitely lost focus, I'm big enough and I've been around long enough to know when you're not doing it and I wasn't doing it at the time. It's been a hard season emotionally and mentally but I'm happy again.

"It's no secret I haven't been playing as well as I did at the start, you can put it down to a lot of things and you can let things affect you but now I've pulled my finger out again. My head is straight and I'm enjoying it again."

But the 33-year-old insists he is now ready to hit top form and has hailed assistant boss Martin O'Connor for putting him back on track.

He said: "Martin pulled me aside a couple of weeks ago and hit me with some home truths. He said I was one of the experienced players here, one of the players the lads look up to and it was up to me to lead by example.

"I'd slipped and he said he knew I had the divorce going through but I hadn't been playing as well as I was when I came in.

"I sat there and took a hammering but he's someone I respect and it was true. I played in the reserves at Burton, got a goal and it's put my season right."

Byfield was left to play much of his comeback match as the lone frontman after Troy Deeney's 19th minute dismissal for deliberate handball.

And the striker believes the red card was debatable but was proud of the Saddlers' display – with Julian Gray cancelling out Jabo Ibehre's penalty.

"I'm not sure whether the referee got it right or not, it was close to Troy's arm but it was a natural reaction," he said.

"It was a great performance from the boys, we dug in and showed great team spirit. If you don't you come away with nothing and I think we deserved something from the game."