I owe it all to Dean Smith, says Walsall's Will Grigg

Will Grigg today insisted he always believed he would rediscover his goal-den touch and thanked Walsall boss Dean Smith for keeping the faith.

The striker started Northern Ireland's 6-0 defeat by Holland in Amsterdam on Saturday despite scoring just four goals last season.

His first call-up came after he ended a seven-month goal drought with the winner in the final-day 1-0 victory at MK Dons last month. And the 20-year-old felt he would come good thanks to Smith's backing.

"I wasn't too worried," he said. "The gaffer said he knew what I could do but I got a hamstring injury late in the season which was very frustrating.

"The gaffer picked me for the first few games of the season. I scored at Sheffield United and against Carlisle but then it was just one of those things.

"Things were not happening for me in the matches and he dropped me but kept telling me to keep going.

"The gaffer has been great. I broke through under Chris Hutchings but Dean Smith came in and pushed me on. It has been a great learning curve."