Promotion still 'right in front of us' - Sadler

Mat Sadler's Saddlers have drawn six and lost four of their last 10 games

Walsall boss Mat Sadler says that promotion from League Two is still 'right in front of us', despite the former leaders' loss of form.

Sadler's Saddlers have not won now in 10 matches and have dropped from top spot to third.

If Doncaster Rovers win at Salford in Tuesday night's rearranged fixture, Walsall will then be outside the top three for the first time in six months, however with Rovers due to visit second-placed Bradford later in April, the Saddlers' fate is in their own hands.

If they can end their slump and win their last four matches, starting with the Good Friday home date against Harrogate Town, they would still gain automatic promotion.

"There has to be a line in the sand to move forward from," Sadler told BBC Radio WM. "And it's up to us to do it. It's still right in front of us. We can't lose sight of that.

"And when we come back out again on Friday, we have to show the side to us that we know is there."

The home game against Harrogate is the first of three fixtures all against teams at the wrong end of League Two, followed by the Easter Monday trip to Newport and then the home date with Accrington Stanley on 26 April.

Their final game is then a trip to Gresty Road to face a Crewe Alexandra side who also spent a lot of time in the top three in the first half of the season but have now all but dropped out of being even play-off contenders.

Speaking after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Barrow, Sadler added: "You have to use frustration and setbacks as motivation.

"We'd love to be in better form and winning some of the games we should have won over the past few weeks but we aren't.

"But it's clear to everyone that we need a reaction. We need to take the shackles off.

"We just have to refocus. The basis of what we do and the way we want to play is hard work."

As for the prospect of missing out on even the play-offs following their run of just two wins in 15 games, Walsall at least look a safe bet for that, given they are seven points clear of eighth-placed Colchester United.