Dean Smith: No case for the defence

Dean Smith today blasted Walsall's defending and admitted the sloppy Saddlers have left him baffled.

The angry boss was at a loss after the Saddlers slipped deeper into relegation danger with a 2-1 defeat at Oldham last night.

Alex Nicholls missed an injury-time penalty after Filipe Morais' struck just 72 seconds in to stun Walsall, now third bottom of League One.

And Smith revealed his disappointment after another poor first-half showing.

"I get frustrated because I see them in training every day but then I see them go out on the pitch and sometimes when they cross the white line decisions baffle me," he said.

"They don't do it in training but we've conceded two goals from rank bad defending and if you do that it'll be hard to win games.

"I've asked questions of them but it's not the same mistakes, that's the annoying thing, it's so frustrating and disappointing.

"It's about decision making but how often do you see Andy Butler misjudging a cross for them to score? They gave me everything and ran their socks off but it's about a few bits they need to do better on."

Florent Cuvelier's goal on his full debut couldn't rescue a point after Morais and Robbie Simpson struck before keeper Alex Cisak saved Nicholls' last-gasp penalty and Smith said his men only had themselves to blame.

"We came back well but our decision making let us down," he said.

"We had an attacking threat going forward but on turnovers and when we lost possession we were too open. There wasn't much in the game apart from the two goals which came from bad defending."

The Saddlers now face relegation rivals Wycombe and Scunthorpe, fourth and fifth bottom respectively, in back-to-back showdowns starting with the Chairboys' visit on Saturday.

Smith insisted he was aware of the magnitude of the games but Walsall, who go to Scunthorpe on Tuesday, will treat them the same.

He added: "Saturday's a big game and what we've got to make sure is we bounce back from this after the disappointment.

"You have to win every game, we set out to win the game last night and Wycombe and Scunthorpe will be no different."