WALSALL’S under-pressure boss Dean Keates wants his team to relax and clear their minds.

The Saddlers have been plunged into the relegation dogfight after losing seven of their last eight league games – including five on the bounce.

From a comfortable mid-table position, they are now looking anxiously over their shoulders and will drop below City with defeat at the Banks’s Stadium.

Keates, who has brought back former Walsall stalwart Martin O’Connor as a coach, is urging his players not to lose faith in themselves.

He said: “Do I believe in this squad? Yes.

“It’s virtually the same squad that went on an unbelievable run at the start of the season so is it down to between the two ears? Yes, it’s got to be.

"All of a sudden it becomes hard to run around and I’ve said to them you could be 11 stone, top of the league and you feel light as a feather when you run around.

“You could be 11 stone down the bottom and you feel like 15-16 stone. They need to shake that off and believe in themselves again.

“We are at a point where we have to go out and be bright, be sharp and resilient.

“If something doesn’t go for you, it is what it is – things will go against us, that’s football. But we have to keep our heads up and keep going.”

Walsall have not won at home since December 8 and Keates has come in for growing stick from worried fans.

But defender Nicky Devlin insists fingers should be pointed at the team for their current slump and not the boss.

“Unfortunately, as manager, he seems to take the brunt of the blame,” he said. “But as players it’s us who have not been good enough. It’s not the manager.”

O’Connor had two spells with Walsall as a player and was also number two at the club to former Bantams boss Chris Hutchings. Keates hopes he will bring in a “different voice” to freshen things up.