In-form Saddlers are backed to stand the heat

The boss insisted they will ignore any outside influences after Saturday's 2-1 win at Bournemouth maintained their superb early-season form.

George Bowerman's last-minute strike claimed the Saddlers' fourth win from five games to leave them sixth in League One.

But Smith vowed his men will be able to cope with the added pressure which comes with being at the top.

He said: "We can't control the mentality of others. The mentality at the football club has always been to go out, produce good football and good performances and get wins. At the moment we are getting them.

"We can only control our mentality. We are just taking it game by game, we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves.

"It was important they followed up the performance against Preston against Bournemouth. They were outstanding last week and we didn't want it ending up being 'after the Lord Mayor's show', we had to come back to get the win."

Andy Butler's opener was cancelled out by Charlie Daniels' 81st-minute leveller but Bowerman's late winner moved the Saddlers up to joint third in League One.

They have claimed 17 points this term and Smith reiterated the importance of banking them early.

He said: "It's really important to rack up these points, really important. The 50-point target is the first target that everybody looks at. I've been in charge for the last two seasons and that's been the magic points total to keep us in the league. If we get to that then we can start looking a bit higher."

And the manager hailed the squad's character after they hit back at the death following Daniel's late equaliser.

He said: "You're not so sure because there's only a few minutes to go. The reaction of the players tells you that they were and I think they deserved the three points."