Deeney plays on despite pain

The 21-year-old is in line to start up front again at the County Ground following his goalscoring display against Hereford at the weekend.

He revealed he would not train much ahead of the clash with the Robins, as he is still suffering from the effects of a knee injury picked up against Peterborough 10 days ago.

But Deeney says, such is his dedication to the Saddlers, who are 13th in League One, he and his team-mates will play through anything to get the result.

He said: "It's not just me, there are a few boys in the squad who want to do well because we all love playing football.

"You have your bad days and your good days but you ride with it. Hopefully the fans can see we all love playing for the club.

"I'll be just trying to rest my knee, I didn't have too much time before Saturday as I had four days off and one on. so I'll try and keep off it and get back."

But Deeney wasn't expecting to play against Hereford on Saturday and agrees, regardless of who plays up front, losing Michael Ricketts to a hamstring injury is a big blow.

Deeney said: "It was nice but I only got there because Ricko was injured. I only trained one day during the week, so it was quite a surprise to come in and be told I was starting.

"Losing a big man like Michael is never going to be good, but it was a case of getting on with it.

"It was a case of I'm just happy to play, I thought I'd be lucky to make the bench because I only trained on Friday when I got on I just thought 'yeah, this is going to be one of those good days'."

One of the main reasons Deeney is desperate to feature is because he is still trying to impress the new management of Chris Hutchings and Martin O'Connor.

He knows any player can ill afford a spell on the sidelines at this crucial stage in the Saddlers' season, but they will be without the injured Stephen Hughes, Stephen Roberts and Rhys Weston.

Deeney said: "Everyone is playing for their shirt again, it's not a case of this is a set team. The manager has come in and given everyone a bit of freshness.

"Everyone wants to impress and you can tell from people like Sofiene Zaaboub, who was great on Saturday."