Darryl Westlake reacts to Walsall loss

Darryl Westlake has admitted Walsall were the masters of their own downfall after they were left counting the cost of defeat to Leyton Orient.

The 2-0 loss dumped them back in the League One drop zone on goal difference after Dagenham & Redbridge beat Colchester 1-0 last night.

Plymouth and Swindon also picked up vital wins to close the gap at the foot.

And Westlake insisted the fourth-bottom Saddlers only had themselves to blame after they squandered several chances.

He said: "I felt we should have won the game with the chances we created, they were two poor goals to give away. We should have at least got a draw out of the game.

"If we take our chances then we're one up and everyone's got the confidence to go forward and win the game."

Both goals – from Harry Kane and Jonathan Tehoue – came down the Saddlers' right and Westlake admitted he should have done more to stop Dean Cox's cross for Kane's first-half opener.

The 20-year-old said: "Maybe for the first goal I could have stopped the cross but you can't stop everything.

"For the second I ran into Matthew Spring and tripped over, so there's nothing really I could have done, but I'll learn from it."

The defender was back in the team after Aaron Lescott's knee injury, with the right-back out for at least two weeks with medial ligament damage.

Westlake had been benched for the last three games before last night's outing and is now eyeing a consistent run.

He said: "I just take every game as it comes and hopefully the gaffer will pick me, if he doesn't I'll keep my head up and keep trying.

"I don't want to see Aaron get injured but it's a massive boost for me, because I can play and every time I play I just need to take things on board and get better.

"I loving playing, I'm young still so every time I play I want to be positive and build on it."