Walsall appoint Byfield until end of season

League Two play-off chasers Walsall have confirmed that Darren Byfield will remain as interim head coach until the end of the season.

The former Saddlers striker, 49, was put in temporary control following the sacking of Mat Sadler on 11 March and has taken four points from his first two games.

Byfield will now stay at the helm for at least the remaining eight matches of the regular season with Walsall two points outside the top seven.

"We are all aligned that we will be giving it everything to finish the season strongly and push to reach the play offs – something which we all believe we are capable of going on to do," said chief executive Ben Sadler.

"For now, we have eight games to go and attack. We are right behind Darren, our coaching staff and the team to give us an end of the season to remember."

After beating Crewe Alexandra 3-0 in his first game, Byfield's side held automatic promotion hopefuls Cambridge United to a goalless draw on Tuesday.

They take on Newport County in their next game at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium on Saturday, hoping for their first home win since 26 December.

Although Byfield has been in charge for only two games, he has got a reaction from a squad that only won once in the 11 matches that led up to Sadler's departure.

He has made some tactical tweaks, switching from three central defenders predominately favoured under Sadler, to a 4-3-3 formation.

Byfield has also freshened up the side, giving a full league debut to 20-year-old Fulham loanee forward Aaron Loupalo-Bi against the U's and starting veteran striker Albert Adomah in both his matches, with the 38-year-old scoring twice in the 3-0 win at Crewe.

Byfield, who has already stated his desire to manage a club in the future, will now try to steer the Saddlers towards a top-seven finish with the aim of going one better than last season's play-off final defeat.

Meanwhile, the club are looking to appoint a head of football to provide day to day leadership across the entire club, including recruitment.

Sadler said: "Concurrently, the process to identify our next head coach has started and will run alongside this.

"We will ensure that we are thorough and diligent in this crucial work to ensure that the most suitable person for this job is appointed to lead the next phase of our club's development.

"We see the head of football as having valuable input into the final decision on the next head coach – so that is the order to expect the appointments."