Kevan Broadhurst has received some unexpected support for his belief that we can pull clear of the bottom. It comes from last Saturday’s opponent, Colin Todd.

Todd gave an interview to the PFA site, Gimmefootball.com, in which he paid the new Walsall manager some complements.

“Kevan is his own man and he has picked up things along the way, but he has been in management before, so he’s learned the trade and it’s not as though it is new to him. Coming in as manager with the position Walsall are in can only be good for them. He is hard taskmaster and has good principles. He has tried to get them to play, which is important. He could never play himself mind!”

He was also asked about the loan of Steve Claridge to the Saddlers:

“Steve Claridge did very well away from home for us and got some vital goals but his home form wasn’t the best even though he’s a fit guy. He came to see me on the Friday before we played Oldham and wanted to know where the ground lay in terms of next season. I said you are going to have to wait until after our game next Tuesday. There’s no smoke without fire, as the deadline was on Thursday and he came knocking on the door on Monday morning and asked if he could go on loan. I said if you have got a club then by all means get yourself fixed up and he’s ended up at Walsall”.

When asked if he thought Claridge could help us stay up, he said:

“Kevan will be hoping he can lead the line as they have got some youngsters. I think him and Paul Devlin might be a fair partnership as Devlin has good experience and knows what the game is about”.