Saddlers boss Chris Hutchings remains defiant

Defiant Chris Hutching today insisted he can still save Walsall's shocking season.

The Saddlers boss is under huge pressure after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at 10-man Huddersfield dumped his team back to the bottom of League One.

Title chasing Peterborough visit the Banks's Stadium tomorrow and another defeat will push the boss further towards the door.

But Hutchings remained confident he is the man to rescue the season despite the tide of opinion against him.

He said: "Of course we can, we weren't second best on Saturday, on a couple of occasions we've been found wanting but the boys worked extremely hard throughout the game.

"We will try and turn this around, if we had been peppered and Wacka had to make save after save then we've got problems but that wasn't the case and we've got to take heart from that."

Antony Pilkington's first-half winner downed the Saddlers, despite the Terriers playing over an hour with 10 men following Alan Lee's dismissal.

But Hutchings conceded the striker's red card, for an elbow on Manny Smith, hindered rather than helped the Saddlers who had frustrated Huddersfield until then.

He said: "We said before the crowd can turn very quickly and we were trying to keep it very tight and frustrate them and we did that.

"A sending off helps the home crowd because they get behind their team, every block is cheered and sometimes it gives them strength.

"It was a sending off, if you ask the boy he might say it was a little bit carless but he swung his arm and everyone saw it."

Jimmy Walker was handed an immediate second debut after his shock return on Friday but failed to stop Pilkington's 30-yard winner – but Hutchings was still pleased with the stopper's display.

"He felt he should have done better with the goal but he's got a lot of experience and acquitted himself very well," he added.