Richard Taundry fired up for Walsall

Walsall captain Richard Taundry is furious - he's fed up with the insults and jibes.

The terrace taunts need to stop and Taundry will go all out to ensure Walsall restore their battered pride.

As an ex-trainee, a local lad, he feels the club's pain more than most and, with the Saddlers bottom of League One, he is hurting.

The 21-year-old has been awarded the captaincy in the injury-enforced absence of Darren Byfield and Aaron Lescott's loss of form, so is desperate to lead the team out of trouble.

They go to Bournemouth tomorrow aiming to climb off the bottom of the table and stay in touch with their fellow League One strugglers.

Defeat could leave them eight points from safety if Leyton Orient, Tranmere and Notts County all win - plunging the Saddlers further into trouble.

But Taundry is ready to haul the team up by their bootstraps. Forget the platitudes which have come before, this boy cares and he is using the Saddlers' desperate plight as motivation.

He said: "It fires me up, it gets me angry and I'll take it into the games and work as hard as I can to get us out of the situation.

"No one wants hear banter about being bottom, we need to use that as inspiration. You always get it in football - we're not used to it and we shouldn't be in the position - but it's something you're always going to get.

"If you get a bit of banter on the pitch you have to deal with it."

The Saddlers hit a new low when they were mocked by Fleetwood fans during last weekend's 1-1 FA Cup draw.

A draw left them with just three wins from 18 games in all competitions and Taundry admitted the team cannot dress their season up any more.

He said: "I think it's there for all to see, the performances have been better but it's not good enough because we're not bringing home the points.

"It's something we've been looking at a lot to try and rectify. Hopefully we can put things right and start climbing the table.

"The lads here are more than capable of getting results, it's just not going our way at the moment.

"Hopefully we'll sort that out."

A trip to Dean Court, where the Cherries have lost just once at home in the league this term, won't be on the Saddlers' list of ideal destinations.

They have won just eight times on the road since the start of last season - 34 games - and haven't tasted victory away since a 2-1 win at Brentford in August.

But Taundry believes the Saddlers can use their underdog tag to their advantage as the Cherries will take a glance at the table and underestimate them.

He said: "Obviously every one looks at it and thinks they can beat us. We have to go there, get our heads down and what have we got to lose?

"We are rock bottom at the moment, so all we can do is climb the table. We went to Huddersfield, and look where they are, and put in a strong performance.

"We didn't get the result we needed but we know we are capable of going to the higher clubs and putting in performances. It's just waiting for the results to come in.

"We've been putting in the performances so maybe it's time we don't put in a performance and the result goes our way.

"It can be done but we need to stick together, starting tomorrow, we need to win there and go again next week."

Darren Byfield will again sit out after suffering a setback in his recovery from a knee injury. The captain is sidelined for another two weeks after seeing a specialist.

Martin Devaney could feature if he shrugs off a hamstring problem, while Ryan McGivern is suspended following his straight red card at Fleetwood last weekend.

Bournemouth are facing a defensive crisis with Shaun Cooper likely to be out with a calf injury and Ryan Garry nursing a knee problem.

Stand-in Marvin Bartley limped out of the 5-3 FA Cup win over Tranmere with a groin strain, so manager Eddie Howe has a selection poser.

But Walsall manager Chris Hutchings praised Howe for the job he has done after leading the Cherries to promotion from League Two last term.

He said: "They are a very good home side and I credit Eddie for the work he has put in and the success he got last year.

"Normally when promoted teams go up there's always one or two who carry the momentum on.

"He's got some good players down there and wants to play a particular way, which is great.

"It's a long season so it'll be interesting to see where they end up."

By Nick Mashiter