Dean Smith calls for calm at Banks's

Boss Dean Smith today insisted Walsall's Colchester clash is not do or die as he moved to ease the pressure on his men.

The Saddlers will escape the League One drop zone with a draw tonight but a win will put them two points clear of Wycombe, who would occupy the final relegation spot.

It is their game in hand on the fifth-bottom Chairboys – currently a point ahead of Walsall – but Smith insisted their U's clash at the Banks's Stadium will not decide their fate.

"People can place as much importance as they want on it – it's only as important as Saturday's game (a 1-1 draw with Stevenage) was," he said, with Walsall sitting 21st. "It's the game in hand but there are another seven after that. There are lots of points to play for.

"It's only vital because it's the next game. Whether you go out of the bottom four today or not is irrelevant. What matters is being out of there on May 5.

"We want to win our home games and we went all out to try to win on Saturday – we'll do that again tonight. The magnitude of the game is no different to Saturday.

"We've have to dust ourselves down and go out there."

The draw with Stevenage – Walsall's 18th of the season – was the third straight game the Saddlers had blown a lead.

But they have lost just one of their last nine matches to keep their hopes of beating the drop for a second successive season alive.

And skipper Andy Butler echoed his manager and believes the Saddlers' survival hopes do not hinge on tonight.

"It's another game and it's the biggest game because it's the next one – it's always been that way," he said, with the Saddlers expected to have Adam Chambers and Richard Taundry available after injury. "If we get a good result we're out of the bottom four. If we don't then we're still in it and we have games we feel we can win.

"It's not the be all and end all. But Colchester is always going to be a tough game and not dissimilar to Saturday's, they are big and strong and have Kayode Odejayi up front."