Michael Flynn delighted with Walsall bouce-back performance

Walsall boss Michael Flynn claimed he has only “scratched the surface” of his new team’s quality after a 3-1 League Two win over Hartlepool further eased their relegation fears.

Three wins in four – including two in three under Flynn – have lifted the Saddlers eight points clear of the bottom two after seven straight defeats cost predecessor Matt Taylor his job.

On-loan Barnsley striker George Miller took his tally for the season to 11 with Walsall’s first and third goals, a coolly-taken opener and an opportunistic finish from Gary Liddle’s under-hit backpass.

Conor Wilkinson’s 20-yard strike had doubled Walsall’s early lead before Omar Bogle’s fourth goal in eight games since joining Hartlepool in January gave the visitors hope.

“I was really pleased today, especially with the first-half performance,” said Flynn after his first home game in charge.

“I thought we were excellent and with a little bit better decision-making, I think we put the game out of sight.

“It’s always pleasing when you win but there are ways to win. It’s horrible losing 5-0 like we did at Swindon on Tuesday – we wanted to put it right today and we did.

“I’ll be glad when we get a free week so we can get some work done on the training ground because we are only scratching the surface at the minute and there is more to come.

“We’ve still got to win a few more games, let’s not dress it up.

“I won’t be resting until we are mathematically safe because there is work to be done for next season and the sooner we get those points, the sooner I can get on with that work.”

Defeat for Hartlepool, meanwhile, ended an unbeaten eight-game run that had propelled Pools into play-off contention and boss Graeme Lee pinpointed a poor first-half display as the reason.

He said: “I feel nothing but disappointment really – the way we started the game, the first-half performance, the decision-making, I felt as though we invited them on too much.

“We knew they were going to press us and come at us and have energy – it’s their manager’s first home game but they are already that type of team anyway who press high up the pitch in numbers.

“We got ourselves back in the game at 2-1 and momentum had swung – you could see they were on the back foot – and then we gift them a goal that lifts them again and they have the cushion.

“We’ve had a great run but today’s performance isn’t acceptable and it highlights that if we drop our standards we don’t win games.

“There were too many mistakes through the game and you could see one of those little errors was going to cost us.”