Notts County 1-5 Walsall

Febian Brandy scored a first-half hat-trick as Walsall hammered struggling Notts County to move into the top six.

The winger rounded County goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski to register his first goal since returning to the Saddlers on loan from Sheffield United.

He then finished off a swift counter-attack before nodding in a Craig Westcarr cross to complete his treble.

Andy Butler headed in and Westcarr latched onto a long ball for 5-0 before Callum McGregor's consolation.

The midfielder, who joined County on loan from Celtic for a second time on Friday, found the net for the 13th time this season with a free-kick.

But it did little to lift the Meadow Lane crowd on an extremely disappointing day for Shaun Derry's side, who are only being kept out of League One's relegation zone by a single point.

Victory for the Saddlers, who scored five goals in a match for the first time since beating Hartlepool 5-2 in March 2011, saw Dean Smith's men move above Peterborough into sixth position.

VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM

Notts County manager Shaun Derry told BBC Radio Nottingham:

"It's unacceptable. As a group of guys we're hurting and we've had a chat and now I'm looking for a reaction.

"We've come a long way in a short space of time but this does feel like a huge backwards step.

"Ultimately we get judged on what we do on a Saturday afternoon. I'm not going to stand here and make excuses and I deserve the flak as much as anybody else."