Jon Whitney is urging Walsall fans to be patient

The Saddlers slipped to a 2-0 loss at Northampton on Saturday and in doing so registered their third defeat in four League One outings.

Whitney's men return to action tomorrow when they travel to Bristol Rovers.

And after receiving criticism from a section of the Saddlers' fan base, Whitney asked supporters to stick with him and the team.

"We need to be patient but I understand not everyone is as patient as me," he said.

"I just ask, please stick with us because it will turn and we will go on a run.

"It's not through a lack of effort from the players that we aren't winning games and I think the fans can see that.

"I can understand their frustration and I can assure them nobody is hurting more than me and I will put it right.

"We've now got a really big game at Bristol Rovers because we have to get something back from our game in hand."

Whitney gave a surprise start to Maz Kouhyar at Sixfields with the youngster making his full Saddlers debut.

And the boss said the midfielder had earned the right to play, especially with Franck Moussa and Florent Cuvelier struggling with injuries.

"Maz has been consistent throughout pre-season and he understands the defensive side of that role away from home," Whitney continued.

"He is also a threat in the 18-yard box. Maz has earned his right to start and we were hoping that if we kept it tight then we could release Franck who had only trained for two days. Franck needs another week's training and we were hoping if we could frustrate them we could then get Franck, Simeon (Jackson) and Andreas (Makris) on and go for that win."

Whitney also revealed Cuvelier is at least a week away from making his return.

"I want more time with Flo to make sure that when he gets back he is in for a run of games," Whitney added.