Walsall must use Cheltenham defeat as fuel - Kanu

Walsall striker Daniel Kanu said the 4-0 home defeat by Cheltenham Town was an "embarrassing" result and one that must provide "fuel" to guarantee they finish the League Two season off on a better note.

The result all but ended the Saddlers' slim hopes of making the play-offs, leaving them seven points off the promotion places with three games to go.

Despite the game being goalless at half-time, Walsall's second-half capitulation left the home fans stunned and head coach Darren Byfield calling it the "worst performance" since he took over from Mat Sadler in March.

Kanu, who is with the Saddlers on a season-long loan from Charlton, came closest to scoring when his deflected shot hit the crossbar and said it was hard to pinpoint why they were so bad.

"Whether it's willingness to work hard, willingness to run back, track back, whether it's understanding what the manager is asking of us - those are the things that we need to work out because those kind of results are embarrassing," the 21-year-old told BBC Radio WM.

"It's something we have to work out really quickly so we can end the season on a positive note because we don't want it to end like this.

"I think there are ways to lose matches and I think that's the worst way we've lost this season."

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Although Walsall can mathematically still reach the play-offs, they need to win all three of their remaining games and hope a lot of other results involving six other teams around them go their way.

But after last season's defeat in the play-off final the Saddlers, who led the table by four points in early December, look set for another summer of reflecting on what might have been.

And Kanu, who has scored 18 goals this season, said he understands how tough that is going to be.

"After what a lot of these guys went through last year, for it to be going the way it's going now, I feel for the guys, I feel for the fans, I feel for everyone involved because we shouldn't be in this position.

"This has to be and will be fuel for us to work even harder than we have been working and we'll ensure that we finish on a positive note.

"I don't want to end the season like this and I'm very sure no one else wants to finish a season like this so we'll make sure that we do our best to make sure that the season finishes in a good way - in a way that the fans can be proud of and look towards next season with some hope and push on up the league."