It's a collective effort for Julian Gray

Two-goal hero Julian Gray has revealed he would scrap his strikes if it meant Walsall pulled off the great escape.

The winger has bagged seven goals this season – four in his last five games – after a brace in Saturday's 3-1 win at Carlisle.

It moved Dean Smith's men off the bottom of League One and left them four points from safety, although other drop rivals have games in hand.

And Gray insisted he would forgo any personal glory if the Saddlers can beat the odds and survive this term.

He said: "Come the end of the season, if I've scored in every game and we've gone down then it means nothing. The focus is on staying up.

"It's nice to score but as long as we win that's the most important thing. We need those points on the board.

"But we're scoring at the right times now. Before we'd be on top but not scoring, get the sucker punch and that would kill us. It would sap our energy.

"Now if we fall behind I still feel we can go on and win games."

Gray has come under fire for his performances this season but has been reborn since Smith took charge last month.

The 30-year-old former Birmingham star admitted to struggling for form but insisted he is starting to return to his best.

He said: "When you're down there and things aren't going well it's hard to be a flare player, so you have to dig in when you're struggling.

"You have to do that, you can't always be at your best. Things have turned for whatever reason, a change of philosophy maybe, but it's benefitted me.

"We're playing to my strengths. I'm working for the team but going forward is my strength.

"I'm getting the ball earlier, getting one-on-one with the defender and we're creating a lot more."