Walsall's Interim Head Coach Jon Whitney spoke to the local media following Saturday afternoon's Sky Bet League 1 defeat to Bradford City, and called upon his squad to 'man up' as they look to get their push for automatic promotion back on track against near-rivals Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday evening.
Speaking via BBC WM 95.6, Jon said; "If you don't care, you don't change things. There were a few harsh words but sometimes you need to have them.
"Promotion is just words, but you have to turn those words into action. They have to man up. They need to show me who's ready for the fight. Places are available on Tuesday. I'm going to see who wants it. I'm going to see who's hungry.
"I need to make decisions after looking at it with a calm head. But I've asked them: 'Did you really do enough to challenge Bradford City? Did you do enough to want to get promoted? Were you willing to put your head on the line?' Sometimes that's what you have to do. It's not always about playing pretty football."
"Promotion is just words, but you have to turn those words into action. They have to man up. They need to show me who's ready for the fight. Places are available on Tuesday. I'm going to see who wants it. I'm going to see who's hungry.
"I need to make decisions after looking at it with a calm head. But I've asked them: 'Did you really do enough to challenge Bradford City? Did you do enough to want to get promoted? Were you willing to put your head on the line?' Sometimes that's what you have to do. It's not always about playing pretty football."