Walsall can take knocks 'on the chin' - Lakin

Charlie Lakin has scored two goals in 29 appearances in League One so far this season

Walsall midfielder Charlie Lakin says ending their run of five games without a win shows the rest of the division they can take difficult periods "on the chin" in their challenge for promotion.

The Saddlers came from a goal down to beat Chesterfield 3-1 on Saturday to claim their first league victory for nearly a month.

The result maintained their eight-point lead at the top of the League Two table and, tellingly, increased their cushion in the automatic promotion places to 10 points over fourth-placed Notts County.

"It was an important win for us and for the fans," Lakin told BBC Radio WM.

When Walsall beat MK Dons 4-1 on 18 January to extend their club-record winning run to nine league games on the spin, they were 12 points clear at the top and 15 ahead of fourth place.

But a wobble followed, with back-to-back defeats for the first time this season and then two draws in the next three games.

That run saw their lead cut to seven points, with their automatic promotion cushion only one point better.

Lakin said understanding what was not right over those five matches was not straightforward.

"You're always going to have blips and it's difficult to put your finger on it," he said.

"There could be various reasons but everyone's season is not going to be smooth sailing - you're going to have five or six games when some things just don't go your way, whether it's injuries or players or fitness, there'll be something. But it's about overcoming that.

"We've got a brilliant squad and we've proved that whoever's doubting us out there, we can take that on the chin and go out there and prove them wrong."

Lakin, who joined Walsall in the summer from Burton Albion, added he "would've snapped your hand off" to be in this position going into the final third of the campaign.

"It's going really well," the 28-year-old added. "Obviously I'd like to get a lot more goal contributions - that's my personal achievement - but as the season's gone on I can't doubt it in any way.

"Everyone looks at the table but there's still a long way to go and a lot can change. You just have to knock the games off one by one and let's talk about it at the end of April."

Mat Sadler is trying to take Walsall back up to League One for the first time since relegation in 2018-19