Walsall set to ring changes over summer

Although the head coach is yet to sign a deal beyond this campaign, he has previously said he will continue to plan for the long-term at the Banks’s Stadium.

Many Saddlers players are out of contract in the summer and Dutton believes the team will see several changes in the coming months.

When asked if he has started any contract conversations with players, he said: “We had to get ourselves in the position where we had EFL safety for next season and then plan accordingly.

“We have that now, albeit not mathematically, so the wheels will be in motion. But believe you me, there will be a turnover of players at the football club.

“The fans deserve better and we’re in this position for a reason. We’ve sold good players and we haven’t replaced them.

“We’ve lost good players to injury and they haven’t been replaced.

“It’s important that the guys that come into the football club are a representation of myself and the club. It’s going to be a high turnaround.”

When asked if the players still have futures to play for in the final three games of the season, Dutton added: “It’s a horrible position as a manager because we’re at the stage now where agents are on the phone to other clubs and are lining deals up.

“We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Maybe players have already got themselves fixed up, who knows.

“We’re now in a position where we can’t be relegated and for the guys to put in performances they have to have a sense of personal pride, a sense of honour.

“That comes from within. You can’t give them that, they have to apply that themselves.

“Unfortunately we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes with players, we just hope they have a sense of personal pride when they step over that line.”