Richard Taundry relishing crunch

Richard Taundry today admitted Walsall have entered "do or die" territory in the race for survival.

The Saddlers are fifth bottom after Scunthorpe's 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United last night and now face an eight-game onslaught in March – starting with Saturday's trip to Leyton Orient.

And after three unbeaten outings Taundry reckons the Saddlers have to stand up and be counted.

He said: "It's do or die and we either go out there with our heads held high and have a good go or don't turn up at all and go down in the league and drop into League Two. That's not what we're about or what we want.

"If the answer is working harder than the opposition then our points will start tallying up.

"We've worked hard in the last few months. We had a little bit of a sticky patch but we corrected most of our bad points so we can now push on."

The 23-year-old has returned to right back in a new-look defence this month after Dean Smith shuffled his pack.

They have responded with three consecutive clean sheets and Taundry is pleased to have another settled role.

"I'm just happy to be playing and helping the club out as much as I can," he said after playing in midfield and on the right wing this season.

"The difference is I've had a run pretty much everywhere instead of playing one position and then other the next week. I've had a bit of consistency in one position before I've moved. Hopefully now I can knuckle down and keep the club afloat.

"I wasn't sure what to think when I heard I was going to be at right back again a few weeks ago but I've enjoyed it and hopefully I'll keep putting in the performances.

"We've got a lot of depth, we're aware of the players we've got behind us and it's down to us to keep our shirts."