Dean Smith stokes up heal on Saddlers

Boss Dean Smith today told his Walsall scrappers to keep the throttle down because victory at Exeter will not guarantee their League One future.

The Saddlers go to Exeter tomorrow knowing a win would relegate the Grecians and could move them six points clear of the drop zone with two games left.

They are three points above fourth-from-bottom Wycombe – who are at title- chasing Charlton – with survival in their hands.

But Smith insisted he expects no let-up from the sixth-from-bottom Saddlers.

He said: "If we win on Saturday we've got a good chance of staying up but there are still to games to play. All we can do is concentrate on our game and see where we are then.

"We know we have to win against Exeter to put us on 49 points and keep that gap there. There are three games left and three big ones.

"It's about what we do. We've looked at the game and we know how we're going to approach it. It will be tough because we know what's at stake for Exeter but we know what's at stake for us. We'll concentrate on ourselves."

And Smith warned his men Exeter will be going all out to keep their survival bid alive after just one win in their last 11 games.

He added: "Paul (Tisdale, boss) has done a fantastic job with the resources he's got. He'll be hurting with the position they're in but he has them playing good football. While there is still a chance they will be going all out.

"You're sympathetic with most teams' situations. There can only be three successful teams in our league and four fall out. What you want to do is make sure you're not the one who falls out. We're still not out of that danger yet and we have to make sure we win games.

"We have to make sure we concentrate on ourselves and make sure we're not one of those four. We can only do that by winning."