Captain heaps pressure on rivals

Walsall captain Mark Hughes has heaped pressure on their rivals by claiming they have everything to lose when they face the Saddlers.

The skipper believes his men can play with freedom now League One safety is virtually assured, but the Saddlers could have a huge say in the promotion and relegation shake-up.

Relegation-threatened Tranmere visit the Banks's Stadium on Saturday, before the Saddlers head to promotion-hunting Huddersfield on Tuesday and Swindon four days later.

Hughes is relishing the chance to play the role of party pooper if it means his team come out on top.

He said: "They are going to be under pressure. We know what it's like at the top and the bottom so we can go into the games, not with nothing to lose, but a bit more comfortable. It's a weight off the shoulders and we can enjoy it a bit more.

"We want to enjoy every game but it is hard when you're scrapping all the time. It's a tough league and there are some good teams so whoever we've got towards the end of the season is going to be fighting.

"No-one wants to go down and teams want to go up. Hopefully we can stop them."

The 23-year-old completed his first 90 minutes since the middle of January in the 2-1 win over Wycombe on Easter Monday, after injury and the form of others kept him sidelined.

Hughes was sent off against Colchester almost three weeks ago and admits it has been a struggle to watch his team-mates.

He said: "Since Christmas I haven't played much and then I got sent off in my comeback the other week. It's been a long few weeks. It was tough seeing the lads go and play, as I'm not the best watcher.

"Even though you train I've only had two reserve games. You can do as much running and training as you want, but there's nothing better than match practice."