Walsall boss Byfield apologises for 'worst' display

Walsall interim boss Darren Byfield has apologised to fans after their heaviest defeat of the season all but ended their fading League Two play-off hopes. The Saddlers' 4-0 home loss to 19th-placed Cheltenham left them seven points adrift of Chesterfield in the final play-off spot, with only three games left. "All I can do is apologise and say sorry for that performance because I don't want to see it, I don't want to feel it," he told BBC Radio WM.

"They pay to come and watch us play. They expect something and today they didn't get anything from us. " Byfield was unbeaten in his first five matches after being placed in caretaker charge when Mat Sadler was sacked in March, but has now suffered back-to-back defeats.

The former Saddlers forward was pleased with their display in defeat at Swindon on Easter Monday, but blamed a lack of fight for their ninth home league loss this term. Walsall 0-4 Cheltenham Town Byfield puts own future aside during play-off bid "I look at us on Monday which was the best performance I've seen for a long time, to today, the worst performance, and we have to look at ourselves and say 'hold on a minute'," he said. "There were too many sideways passes, too many backwkard passes, we didn't ask enough questions of them, not winning our duels, not running back.

These are the things that are required to win a football match. "And it can't be 'oh I did it on Monday', no, you have to do it every day and you have to do it every match. " Walsall are 12th, having topped the table on Boxing Day, and their turn of the year slide has mirrored last season's campaign when they won three of their final 21 matches to blow a 12-point lead at the top in mid-January and miss out on promotion.