Anyone who has any doubts over Kevan Broadhurst's commitment to the cause at hand should have witnessed him launching into tackles at West Midlands Travel Ground in front of the proverbial one man and a dog just over three weeks ago.

The new Saddlers boss has already had his charges working round the clock in a bid to halt the slide that has seen them sucked into a relegation battle.

The auguries are good for Broadhurst, as Walsall procured an unlikely point at league leaders Southend on Saturday in his first game at the helm.

Lashings of hard work, allied to a dose of good oldfashioned grit, is the recipe that Broadhurst intends to introduce at the Bescot.

However, he will be prepared to lead from the front and his commitment in a charity game for Birmingham City's old boys was testament to the fires that burn within.

The 48-year-old contested every decision and scrapped tigerishly for possession against Linden Athletic of the South Birmingham Sunday League.

He will attempt to instil that desire and downright bloody-mindedness to overcome the odds at Walsall, as the countdown to survive begins in earnest.

And he has been suitably impressed with the response he has received thus far to his new regime.

"We trained in the morning and afternoon today and we will be doing a double session tomorrow [Tuesday] as well," he said yesterday.

"We will ease off towards the end of the week, but we need to work on a few things.

"There have been one or two grumbles, as I would expect, but I said to the lads 'am I looking at the league table the wrong way round and are we fifth from top'?" he added with a smile.

"In all seriousness, the response from the players has been excellent and I think we just need a little bit more organisation and discipline.

"They have to realise that there is more than one way to win a game of football.

"The team take chances and play with a certain freedom. If that is working' then everything is fine but, if the other team is on top, you need something to fall back on.

"I have been impressed with the players' attitude' though. They want to take things on board."

Broadhurst will welcome Paul Devlin back into the equation after his suspension, although Ian Roper will be unavailable for Saturday's trip to Bournemouth for the very same reason. Daniel Fox is expected to be available after injury, while Chris Westwood is still rated as 50-50.

Whatever team he selects, Broadhurst is acutely aware of the need for a win against Bournemouth next week in his opening gambit at the Bescot.

Although he has been in charge for less than a week, it hasn't taken him long to deduce exactly where their Achilles heel lies.

No goal in the last three fixtures and a failure to hit the onion bag in nine of their last 11 games makes the problem patently obviously.

"I have spoken with the chairman and once I have identified the areas we need to strengthen, I can bring players in on loan," he added.

"Obviously, we need to score goals and that is an area we are looking at. However, it is a case of bringing in the right people who are available now."