Walsall squad are pumped for the Iron

Walsall have 'weighted' long enough for another win – now they are out to make Scunthorpe look like 'dumb-bells.'

Three straight defeats have put the brakes on the Saddlers but gym sessions have sparked an competitive edge in the squad.

And winger Alex Nicholls has revealed the spark has helped them focus following their recent barren run, ahead of tomorrow's visit of the winless Iron.

Nicholls – part of 'Team Hench' with Manny Smith, Will Grigg and Oliver Lancashire – insisted the squad have found an alternative way to motivate themselves.

He said: "We do a lot of work on the weights. Manny and Ollie wanted to get up to about 90kgs, they are about 85kgs and instead of putting fat on they wanted to put muscle on.

"I ended up going in the gym with them because I need to build up as well with Will and we ended up calling ourselves 'Team Hench' – I don't know where it's come from, it was just said!

"Then Andy Butler comes along with Kevan Hurst and they form their little group. After Hursty had his baby they called themselves 'Team Daddy' for whatever reason! It's good, it's brilliant.

"There's another group - Team Ripped with Ryan Jarvis, Mat Sadler, Adam Chambers and Anton Peterlin - but I don't know if I should mention them, to be honest.

"One day they do weights and the next they don't – it's a bit of a shambles!"

The behind-the-scenes work has helped the Saddlers forget their on-pitch woes.

Manager Dean Smith admitted after Tuesday's 1-0 reverse against Oldham players were suffering from a lack of confidence.

But Nicholls insisted the squad have rallied and insisted morale in the camp is still high this early in the season.

He said: "It's good, the team spirit is there and we are very close knit. In the week we'll be in the gym and a little bit of light-hearted banter picks everyone up.

"You don't want to dwell on a performance because there's nothing you can do."

The Saddlers are without the injured Jon Macken and Claude Gnakpa, both nursing hamstring problems.