Play with passion, Chris Marsh tells Saddlers

Chris Marsh today told Walsall to rediscover their passion and insisted survival would be another success.

The Saddlers legend wants Dean Smith's men to prove their worth by fighting harder in their relegation battle.

They are due to travel to Oldham tomorrow – weather permitting – in League One after dropping into the relegation zone last weekend.

And Marsh, who played with Smith, believes the Saddlers can haul themselves out of trouble if they find their fire.

"It's about passion, when you pull that shirt on you have got to have that passion to win. Not just for the manager and the fans but also for yourself," said the ex-defender, currently first-team coach at Daventry.

"Whatever you're doing, even if you're playing tiddlywinks, you need to have that will to win. It's about the 90 minutes and sweating blood during the game.

"When we went up with Fulham (in 1999) Manchester City were behind us and they had to go through the play-offs. They had better players than us but as a team they weren't. You have to be willing to fight for your team-mates.

"Chris Nicholl, when he was manager, used to say to us everyone could have a bad game, everyone could have a stinker but as long as we gave 100 per cent he couldn't ask for more."

The Saddlers escaped relegation on a dramatic final day of the season last term and, after another struggle this year, Marsh, who made 479 Walsall appearances, admitted a repeat would be another achievement.

He said: "You don't want to start the season saying survival would be a success but unfortunately it would. That's the reality. There are big teams in the division who all spend money and we are not one of those teams.

"Dean has got good people around him with Richard (O'Kelly) and Chris (Nicholl) and it's the right blend but there's only so much they can do once the players cross that white line."

Meanwhile, Oldham are fighting to get tomorrow's League One game at Boundary Park on.

The Latics, whose match at Brentford was postponed on Saturday, appealed for fans to help them clear the pitch of snow and ice over the weekend and are confident of playing.