Walsall's home game is called off

Walsall's home showdown with Southampton has been postponed with the Banks's Stadium pitch frozen solid.

The Saddlers held an inspection at 11.30am after overnight temperatures dipped to minus 5C and local referee Steve Bratt called tomorrow's game off.

It is the second successive home match the Saddlers have lost to the weather, after the visit of Oldham was postponed due to a frozen pitch two weeks ago.

It means the club will suffer a financial hit before Christmas having not played at home since November 20, a 2-1 win over Carlisle.

Boxing Day's trip to managerless Bristol Rovers will also be in doubt if conditions continue – last season's Christmas fixture on December 26 at the Memorial Ground was lost to the big freeze.

The postponement hampers the Saddlers' attempts to escape the League One relegation zone, despite their 1-0 win at Charlton on Sunday.

And winger Steve Jones has revealed the players had hit the panic button before their recent revival.

The honest wide man admitted they started to worry where the next point was coming from before their shock win at the Valley.

Walsall have won two of their last three games and were gaining momentum but Jones admitted, privately, the players had begun to fear the worst.

He said: "We weren't getting many points so obviously you start panicking and thinking 'God, where's the next point coming from?' but now we have got the win everyone should be confident.

"Before then we were losing game after game. A lot of our stuff was, because we were panicking, off the cuff. In the last few weeks we've been working on people's roles and it was evident against Charlton.

"All you can do is train well, speak to the lads and thrash things out and go through everyone's roles and what their jobs are.

"I think they were forgotten at times."

The Saddlers have won just four of their last 20 games in all competitions, piling the pressure on boss Chris Hutchings but Jones admitted the players have also been feeling the strain.

He said: "We've been coming off very disappointed, the heads were down and it's been hard to take.

"When you win your heads are high and there's a good spirit and we need more of that to gain confidence."