Saddlers 'have believed their own hype'

Oliver Lancashire today admitted Walsall believed their own hype and have failed to fulfill their promises.

The defender revealed for the first time that the Saddlers' over-confidence could have been the cause of their slump.

They have slipped into the League One relegation zone after one win in 14 games – and just three all season – despite a promising start.

"We have let ourselves down, especially after the first few games, and maybe we let it go to our heads a little bit after we played so well," he said, with the Saddlers travelling to Dagenham in the FA Cup second round on Saturday.

"But the last few months haven't been acceptable and hopefully now we can start pushing on.

"There's no point doing it against Huddersfield, going to Stevenage to get a point and then losing at home.

"We've got to make the Banks's a hard place to come and Charlton is the next home game.

"We've got Dagenham first, though, and we need to get the results now. Going to Stevenage was hard and a point was a good start."

But the defender insisted the Saddlers can regroup and draw on the experience of last season's Great Escape.

"No-one wants the situation we were in last season when it went down to the last game," he said.

"We're a lot more prepared and mentally we're a lot stronger.

"If we win on Saturday and get into the third round of the FA Cup, things will be looking up."

Lee Beevers, meanwhile, today dismissed Walsall's loan woes and insisted the current crop can cope without reinforcements.

Boss Dean Smith only signed winger Andy Halliday from Middlesbrough ahead of last week's loan deadline and missed out on several targets.

And the Saddlers were rocked after injury-hit Doncaster recalled midfielder Mark Wilson on Monday – exercising their right despite Walsall agreeing an extension until January.

But right-back Beevers said: "We've got the players in the squad who can do it – we just need to start turning performance into results.

"We're confident, have a good bunch of lads and we know we can perform."