Chris Hutchings: Saddlers must stay strong

Walsall chief Chris Hutchings today urged his players to battle through their confidence crisis.

The beleaguered manager has admitted the Saddlers lack self belief with the team seven points from safety at the bottom of League One.

Jimmy Walker is calling for his team-mates to get "nasty" with each other and with the Saddlers desperate to revive the season, under-pressure Hutchings needs his players to remain strong.

"You can be playing well but keep getting beaten and that can slowly affect you, but you must be strong mentally and keep bouncing back," he said. "Winning games is all about confidence, whether it be tennis, snooker, darts or golf, winning breeds confidence.

"It can affect younger players more than older ones but you can have a mentally strong young one and the older ones loses confidence.

"It's all about us, there isn't an 'I', it's about us and we have to get through it. Heads can drop at any time. Everyone must rally round each other, they know the importance of it. You need everyone to pull their weight."

And Hutchings is mindful of his squad's fragile state after a demoralising FA Cup defeat at League Two Torquay last time out.

He said: "There's a place for ranting and raving but also a place for keeping cool heads," he said. "You deal with situations when they happen and as they happen. What's the point of giving someone a rollicking if they haven't done anything wrong?"

Sunday's daunting trip to Charlton is a huge task as the Saddlers know, before kick-off at the Valley, they will be further away from safety.

And Hutchings admitted the hard luck stories must stop if Walsall are to survive.

He said: "It's about winning, if you keep playing well and getting beaten there's no points on the board. That's the ultimate thing.

"People can see what we're trying to do, performances haven't been bad but it's about winning now. People become frustrated, I become frustrated, the staff and players do too and you work even harder to turn it around.

"We won't play as well in some games and will win them but it's all about winning games and that's what we've got to start doing.

"Look at the Sheffield Wednesday game, most people who saw it would have thought a 3-0 defeat was totally unjust but it happens and you have to bounce back from it.

"It was the same against Peterborough, we played well and got beaten but have to bounce back."