Walsall warning from caretaker boss

Caretaker manager Dean Smith has admitted Walsall must find their form or face the consequences.

The Saddlers mounted another late show at drop rivals Bristol Rovers last night as Aaron Lescott's 83rd minute leveller secured a 2-2 draw.

It moved them off the bottom of League One and seven points from safety after Saturday's 3-3 thriller at Tranmere.

But Smith knows the Saddlers need to start winning instead of drawing.

He said: "We need to do better than a mid-table team if we are going to climb out of the trouble we're in and that's what we'll work towards.

"What we need is consistency, we have shown a little by going unbeaten for two games but we also need to win football matches.

"In my head I would have set a target of three points from the last two games, unfortunately we've got two but we're unbeaten.

"What's better? I don't know and I'll be able to say in a few weeks when we've played a couple of games."

But Smith is adamant his temporary charges, who went ahead after Will Grigg's first senior goal, are good enough to stay up.

He said: "I am here because we've had a poor first-half of the season but I've seen a reaction from the players in the last two games.

"The guys have what it takes and we'll try to bring some players in who can help strengthen us and we can stay in this league.

"I know what it takes to stay up in this league and you only have to look at the average over the last 10 years, we just need to treat it game-by-game.

"We're disappointed because I felt last night was a game we could have won. In the first half, I had enough reason to think we're on track."

Smith could be in charge for Saturday's visit of Huddersfield, while the club assess their options after studying 50 CVs for the hot-seat vacancy.

But the caretaker boss insisted he has never asked chairman Jeff Bonser how long he could be in charge for.

He said: "I have contact with the chairman daily but the question has never come from me, because I am employed by the football club to win games."