Walsall star hails 'one of the best leaders' he has worked with

Matt’s equaliser in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Chesterfield was his second goal in as many games and 11th of the season, as Walsall came out fighting in the second half.

And Lakin, who is keen to add more goal contributions to his season after some strong performances, believes Matt’s recognition should continue ‘for the rest of the season’.

Lakin added: “Jam is an unbelievable player and an unbelievable person.

“He’s up there with one of the best leaders I've had, in terms of a captain, and rightly so.

“I'm glad he's getting the praise he is for his goals, because his work throughout every game is second to none, and he's now getting the recognition of the goals that he's getting.

“Let's hope that continues for the rest of the season because he's an unbelievable person.”

After Matt's equaliser, Ellis Harrison and Levi Amantchi sealed a 3-1 triumph for the Saddlers.

And speaking about that second half, Lakin added: “We said between ourselves, ‘Listen, we were good in the first half, but we can be better'.

“And we always say, ‘Let's start that second-half on the front foot, in their half and keep the ball in their half’, and I feel like we started five yards higher and we just pressed the life out of them.

“I mean, you see how the pitch is and it's not the best, but we use that to our advantage and, like I say, we keep it in their half and press them high and get our rewards at the end of it.

“As soon as we turned it around and went to 2-1, it was then about settling down, calming down and playing the game out, which probably we haven't done in recent weeks.

“But we all came together as a group after our second goal and we said, ‘Listen, let's switch on now, and let's see the game out because we know we're good at that.’

“We've shown that all season and I think we went and proved that today.”

Lakin stressed the strength and togetherness of the squad, as they hope to regain form after seeing their 12-point buffer at the top reduced.

“Every season's not going to be smooth sailing," he said. "You're going to have three or four games, or five or six games, whatever it is, that some things just don't go your way.

“Whether it's injuries, whether it's players, whether it's fitness. Whatever it is, there's going to be some things in that season that don't go well, but it's about overcoming that.

“As a group, we've got what we've got. It's brilliant, and that togetherness and we've proved today that whoever's doubting us out there, it's fine. We can take that on the chin, and we go and prove them wrong.”

On his own performance this season, Lakin added: “It's going really well, more so for performances.

“Obviously, I'd like to get a lot more goal contributions than I have, but that's my personal achievement.

“But listen, as the season's gone on, I can't doubt it anyway. I mean to be top of the league at this point, I would have snapped your hand off whenever you would have asked me, last season or whenever.

“I think it's going well. It's time to continue that.”