Dean Smith fury at Ledesma red card

Boss Dean Smith today branded Emmanuel Ledesma's red card "crazy" after the Argentine ace was ruled out of Walsall's crunch survival showdowns.

The midfielder was sent off for a 79th-minute two-footed tackle on Adam El-Abd as the Saddlers lost 3-1 to Brighton on Saturday — as the Seagulls claimed the League One title.

He will be hit with a three-game ban and is now sidelined until the final-day trip to Southampton.

And while Smith admitted Ledesma — who lasted just 19 minutes after replacing Matt Richards on the hour — had to go, he revealed his frustration with modern-day football.

"It's a crazy rule. If that's a sending-off then I would have been sent off 45 times in my career," said the boss.

"If he wins the ball then I can't see a problem, but by the letter of the law he's gone in with two feet so it's a sending-off.

"It was a 50-50 ball but you can't go in with two feet for some reason. He won the ball but he's gone in with two legs and you can't do that now."

Smith has also lost Clayton McDonald for the rest of the term with a dislocated shoulder and urged his team to keep the faith ahead of their final four games.

He said: "What I found unacceptable is when Emmy got sent off we lost belief. I said to them I've seen 10 men come back against 11 many times but we accepted we weren't going to get anything out of it and that's unacceptable for me.

"They have to take responsibility. I'm angry because I felt we could have got something out of the game. Brighton are worthy champions and they played some great stuff but they scored from two corners and that's what annoys me.

"We gave it a go which I was pleased with but we're better than that and the lads have got to stand up and be counted."

Despite defeat, the Saddlers remain outside the bottom four after all their relegation rivals lost ahead of third-bottom Notts County's trip to Tranmere tomorrow.

Smith added: "All the results have gone for us in terms of being out of the bottom four so the luck is still in our favour."