WALSALL extended their unbeaten run to five league games but it was very much a case of two points dropped against fellow-strugglers Rochdale.

After their superb Boxing Day win over Sheffield Wednesday, another three points for the Saddlers would have sent them into the New Year in high spirits and with precious breathing space between them and the League One drop zone.

But a familiar problem - lack of cutting-edge up front - cost them points against exactly the sort of opposition which they need to beat to avoid a gruelling battle against relegation.

Rochdale gave the ball away far too often and looked there for the taking but were never put under sustained pressure. Still. the Saddlers created a few clear chances but they failed to take any of them.

Dean Smith’s kept a clean sheet quite comfortably and their solidity at the back gives hope for a successful survival battle but the lack of potency at the other end remains a con

Smith, though, is happy with a haul of four points from two festive home games.

“If you had offered me four points from the two games, I’d have taken it,” he said.

“We were the better side in the first half and created three or four chances but then Rochdale were better in the second half. It was a fair result.

“The pitch is cutting up quite badly at the moment and it became a bit of a battle. But I said to the lads after the game that we are difficult to beat at the moment and that’s good.”