Dean Smith backs his Walsall side to keep their heads

Boss Dean Smith today backed Walsall to keep their cool as the survival race hots up.

The Saddlers face three final crunch games starting at Exeter on Saturday as they fight to beat the League One drop.

Victory at St James' Park could all but seal survival but defeat would leave the sixth bottom Saddlers, who are three points above the drop zone, staring at a nerve-wracking finale.

Exeter will be relegated if they fail to win at the weekend and Smith insisted his men know they must remain ice cold.

"It is important, definitely, and we will do," said Smith, with the Saddlers also playing play-off hopefuls Huddersfield and MK Dons. "We've got a week to work towards the Exeter game and we're looking forward to it.

"What you have to do is concentrate on your own job and be disciplined in what you do.

"It's down to frustration but one thing I keep saying to the players is you have to keep your discipline on the pitch. Things which happen are mistakes, refereeing decisions and what the opposition do and you can't do anything about them."

Smith was aggrieved Andy Robinson scored Tranmere's winning free kick in their 1-0 victory on Saturday after catching Andy Butler in the face – forcing the skipper to foul him in retaliation.

And the boss has reminded his players they cannot let their emotions get the better of them.

"The boy elbows Andy in the face and the referee waves play on but Andy should keep his discipline," he said. "I know it's not nice having that happen but if he keeps his discipline he doesn't give a foul away and they don't score the goal.

"I told Andy that but the other side of it is the referee has to make the correct decision in the first place. It's amazing with some of the fouls you saw out there on Saturday yet we had a man sent off (Lee Beevers).

"In the last 15 or 20 minutes we got scrappy and went into a bit of a panic mode because we knew it was an important game."

Meanwhile, the Saddlers youth team suffered a blow in their North West Youth Alliance title bid after losing 3-1 to leaders Preston to sit third.