Boss Dean Smith spells it out for Saddlers

Boss Dean Smith today underlined the magnitude of Walsall's Scunthorpe battle and insisted: 'It's time to shine'.

The Saddlers are out of the League One drop zone on goal difference – a place above tomorrow's hosts – and are locked on 25 points with the Iron.

Victory would pile pressure on the Iron but defeat would leave the Saddlers in the bottom four – something Smith has made his players aware of.

He said: "The importance of the game is massive and the lads need to know that. We need to put in the performance we're capable of but also get a result.

"If you lose you go into the bottom four and if you win you might climb a couple of places. It's an important game and every game is an important game at the moment. What we have to do is perform in it.

"We've played well enough in some games to have won them but sometimes it's nice to not play so well and win."

But Smith, without hamstring injury victims Jon Macken and Jimmy Walker, insisted the Saddlers will not hit the panic button should they slip into the relegation zone tomorrow.

He said: "The bottom four isn't all it's made out to be, we were in it for most of last season and the time to be out of it is the end of the season. We're in a battle and we need to win games and on Saturday, against a team around us, it's important we go there with the mindset we're going to win."

Both teams have drawn 13 games this term – the highest in the division – and Smith insisted it's time for the Saddlers to break the cycle.

"We've been picking up points but just points rather than wins and sometimes that's how football is," he said. "I've played in games where you've dominated and lost and when you've been under pressure and won.

"We're at the stage of the season now where, with the points we've got, we have to win games."