Ben Purkiss: Write us off at your peril

Walsall square up to League One pace-setters Notts County tomorrow fearless and ready to prove their critics wrong.

That is the promise from defender Ben Purkiss, one of the new recruits Dean Smith is hoping he can quickly blend into a challenging squad, as the Saddlers face a seemingly daunting challenge.

In contrast to the hard-pressed economics to which Walsall are now so familiar, they face one of the division's bigger spenders who have shot out of the blocks with back-to-back wins over Crewe and Hartlepool.

Manager Keith Curle has also introduced a new playing style which, with the Saddlers also adopting a more progressive passing game this season, suggests tomorrow's Meadow Lane clash could be entertaining.

But although Walsall will again be written off before a ball is kicked, the 28-year-old right-back believes a club's wages bill is not necessarily the only factor in deciding a team's fate.

"County seem to have stabilised after that period when they had players like Kasper Schmeichel turning up," says the 28-year-old who has played in all three Saddlers fixtures so far.

"They are a big club while it's common knowledge that we're not a club which pays as much as others – but that doesn't always mean everything.

"You see players throughout the game who make you wonder why they are getting as much as they are and at the same time come across players in the lower levels who are really good footballers who just haven't had the chance to go higher.

"I think we're a really good football side. Sure, there's some inexperience about us but I think we've got some really, really good footballers and if we keep believing in ourselves and keep playing the right way we can go into every game capable of a positive result.

"We don't fear anyone and that lack of expectation lifts the pressure off us.

"We're not setting any targets but I think we are capable of proving everyone wrong."