Jackson Smith took his Walsall chance - they can't let him slip through their fingers

That extended Walsall’s winless run to six games and left them languishing in 19th place.

Optimism was at an all-time low but Smith’s introduction helped reinvigorate Walsall over the coming weeks, writes George Bennett.

His auspicious performance in the forgettable goalless draw at non-league Alfreton Town in the FA Cup was an early taster of things to come.

Over the course of his first six league starts, Walsall collected five wins to climb into the top half – starting with a 2-1 comeback victory at Notts County and ending with a 6-1 mauling of Grimsby Town.

A 3-1 defeat at Stockport County prompted Mat Sadler to recall Evans, whose nervy three-match return culminated in a late red card during a 3-0 home defeat against Newport County on February 10.

Smith resumed his role between the sticks, and produced a stunning last-gasp save in the 2-1 victory over Mansfield Town, which served as a catalyst for Walsall’s memorable five-match winning streak.

He leaked just three goals during that period and kept back-to-back clean sheets in wins over Morecambe and Harrogate Town respectively – the latter representing Walsall’s first away league clean sheet in almost 10 months.

Although Smith shipped five goals apiece at MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon respectively, his breakthrough into the team was undeniably a crucial factor behind Walsall’s brightest spells of the season.

At Bescot, Smith conceded just nine times in as many league appearances, a figure reduced to just six from open play.

He outshone Evans in every notable metric – registering a save percentage of 63.6 per cent in comparison to Evans’ figure of 59.8 per cent, while conceding an average of 0.2 fewer goals per game than the Welshman.

According to FotMob, only Crawley Town’s play-off winning goalkeeper Corey Addai (15.8), Wrexham loanee Arthur Okonkwo (9.5) and Barrow’s Paul Farman (5.7) prevented more goals than Smith (1.7) in League Two.

With that in mind, it comes as no surprise Walsall have offered the 22-year-old a new contract.

It is also unsurprising that Evans, a good goalkeeper in his own right, is heading for the exit door once his contract expires.

After all, Evans was never going to stick around for another season of playing second fiddle.

But the priority now is to make sure that Walsall don’t allow a gem like Smith to slip from beneath their finger tips.