Walsall boss Dean Smith signs new contract

Boss Dean Smith today committed his future to Walsall by penning a two-year deal.

The manager has guided the Saddlers to the brink of League One safety after taking over from the sacked Chris Hutchings in January with the club eight points adrift at the bottom.

He has impressed in his 18 games in charge, losing just five, drawing eight and winning five to leave the Saddlers a point from safety and fourth bottom.

Smith initially took charge until the end of the season but the team's form has convinced the board to offer him longer terms.

"It is an honour to be given the job on a full-time basis," said the boss, who came through the ranks at the Banks's Stadium to make 166 appearances for the club before leaving for Hereford in 1994 .

"This is a fantastic opportunity for me personally at a club very close to my heart. I am fully-focused on the immediate task at hand of avoiding the drop and now that my future has been resolved I can start to plan for the long term.

"This is an exciting challenge which I'm relishing."

The Saddlers don't play tomorrow – as original opponents Brentford face Carlisle in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final on Sunday – but travel to rock bottom Plymouth next Saturday.

And, ahead of the final seven games of the season, the Walsall board felt the club needed stability to help them survive.

"We are really pleased to secure Dean's services on a full-time basis" said chief executive Stefan Gamble. "The rest of the board and I have been very impressed with how he has conducted himself since taking over the first-team reins. We have seen steady and positive progress on-the-pitch and we are very confident in his abilities as a manager.

"The impact Dean has had since stepping up to first-team level is clear for all to see. Performances, and crucially results, have improved dramatically and we have given ourselves a real chance of avoiding relegation, something that was almost unthinkable at the turn of the year.

"We also felt that the time was right to bring stability to the club, in terms of managerial personnel, both in the short-term, as we enter the final and most decisive phase of the season, and in the long-term, as we need to start planning for the future."