Matt Richards' urge for drop fight

Matt Richards today urged Walsall not to blow their survival shot.

The Saddlers are locked in a battle at the bottom of League One after a season of struggle but can still escape the drop.

Their form under boss Dean Smith has given them renewed hope after a nightmare spell with ex-manager Chris Hutchings. And Richards insisted they cannot afford to miss their big chance to save their season.

"We can't get ahead of ourselves and think 'oh we're doing well now, we're automatically going to stay up' or 'just because we lose a game we're going to get relegated'," said the midfielder. "We've got to take every game as it comes.

"It is in our own hands. If we perform like we have done we deserve to get results and get out of it.

"We just have to keep putting in performances, concentrate and work hard."

Boss Smith has insisted the teams who keep cool will win the fight and Richards backed the Saddlers to handle the pressure.

He said: "From day one there was always the pressure of trying to stay up.

"It was getting on for an impossible task at one point but the way things are going it's looking more and more likely we can put up a decent fight and get ourselves out of it."

"There's a pressure wherever you are in the league but we've got a job and we must stick to it. There's pressure on us to win and we put pressure on ourselves because I feel we're better than the position we're in.

"We shouldn't be where we are, I feel we should be a lot higher. There's pressure to prove we are good enough to be up there is the main thing for me."