Marshall joined Walsall last summer from Manchester City

Walsall have enough quality to secure their future in League One, according to their midfielder Paul Marshall.

The Saddlers climbed out of the bottom four for the first time since October by beating Southampton on Tuesday.

"We've played against the teams that are around us; Bristol Rovers, Dagenham and Swindon," Marshall told BBC WM.

"They're poor, poor teams and we think we're a good team. We shouldn't be where we are in the league, we just had a bad start to the season."

Walsall now face a crucial trip to fellow strugglers Swindon, who appointed Paul Hart as their manager in succession to Danny Wilson this week.

We've got a good squad now, we've signed some more good players Paul Marshall

"I think Swindon is bigger than Southampton because of where we are in the league," noted the former Manchester City youth player.

"If we beat them we go six points clear of them, if they beat us we'll go back into the relegation zone. It's massive for us.

"We all believe we can beat Swindon because we've got a good squad now, we've signed some more good players."

Among them is the Argentina-born midfielder Emmanuel Ledesma, who made a good impression during his first start for the Saddlers in the 1-0 win over the Saints.

That result means the club have taken 14 points from their last eight games, a run that has seen them overhaul Bristol Rovers, Dagenham & Redbridge, Swindon and cash-strapped Plymouth.

"We needed to get a run of games together and I think we've started to do that now," said Marshall.

"We're bouncing back from results. We got beaten at Colchester, then against Rochdale we could've won the game then we beat Southampton which is massive really.

"Back at the start of the season we weren't doing that."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version