Walsall boss Mat Sadler says his side know the job is far from done despite climbing into the League Two play-offs for the first time this season with a 2-1 victory over Accrington.

On-loan defenders David Okagbue and Emmanuel Adegboyega netted from corners to give the Saddlers a fourth straight win after ex-Walsall winger Jack Nolan’s penalty put Stanley ahead.

It was a deserved victory for the hosts, who were unlucky the officials did not spot Liam Gordon’s first-half deflected cross had gone over the line before Lewis Shipley hacked it away.

“We’re seventh but there’s a long way to go,” said Sadler.

“Yes, we have put ourselves in the picture and the conversation but there is still so much hard work ahead and there will certainly be no drop off from us.

“From minute one we dominated the game. I was really impressed with how physical we were.

“I keep getting across to the lads that I want us to beat teams in different ways and today it was a set-piece way that we did it.

“Football is full of kicks in the teeth and moments change game and we showed that real resilience and determination we weren’t going to be beaten.”

Okagbue’s goal was his first in the Football League while Norwich loanee Adegboyega scored for the third time in four games.

“Emmanuel was tenacious in the tackle, wholehearted in it all and I was delighted to see him score,” added Sadler.

“He must think it’s so easy this game. You rock up, score in front of the fans and go home.”

Accrington, meanwhile, dropped to 15th, five points behind Walsall, and boss John Coleman was unhappy both Saddlers goals were allowed to stand.

“The disappointing fact is we’ve conceded from two identical corners and it’s two fouls on the keeper,” Coleman complained.

“On the balance they made more chances than us, we were hanging on at times, they missed a couple of sitters and you think it’s going to be your night.

“But that’s about the fifth time we’ve been leading with about 25 minutes to go away from home and not won, which is disappointing.

“I’m not making excuses as Walsall deserved to win but we deserved a level playing field – what wasn’t a foul for us was a foul for them, there was just no balance, it got painful to watch.

“But with how many injuries we’ve had, the fact we’re still competing against an in-form team shows how hard our lads work – I can’t knock their effort.

“We’ve got 18 fit players – injuries are an occupational hazard but it’s an unusual amount. If you take the top seven or eight earners out of any team, it’s a massive setback.”

Notts County boss Stuart Maynard was “embarrassed” by his side’s 4-3 defeat at home to Sutton – the first time since 2016 they have lost three consecutive home games.

The Magpies dropped to 14th in Sky Bet League Two, four points off the play-off places, on yet another frustrating evening for the new County boss.

“It’s a performance I’m not proud of. It’s a performance as a whole that I feel embarrassed by, especially the manner in which we have conceded goals once again – it’s a really frustrating evening.”

The visitors opened the scoring inside six minutes, the 10th time Notts County have conceded inside the opening 10 minutes this season and something Maynard is keen to address.

“Look, we’ve conceded within five minutes again. No matter who you play in this division, whether it’s in the top end or the bottom end, if you give that team the opportunity to go ahead against you it’s always going to be difficult.

“We end up getting back in the game and then killing ourselves and it’s a really poor performance tonight.

“I think when you pull it back to 2-2 you always feel like you have the chance of coming out and performing to a better level and can go and win the game.

“Unfortunately, we came out in the second half and I don’t think we performed to a very good level. I think since we’ve been here as a management team the performance level has not been good enough tonight, whereas previous times we have been a bit unlucky.”

Sutton manager Steve Morison was delighted for his side, who recorded just their second away win of the season to boost their survival hopes.

“We deserved that, us and the players have worked incredibly hard ever since I have come in,” Morison said. “The staff have been phenomenal and supported me and the rest of the guys and they have been excellent.

“It’s been a tough week personally, but I’m glad we got that result because we deserved it.”

There was a pivotal moment in the first half when striker Harry Smith was hauled down inside the area following a tussle with Scott Robertson in midfield.

Had a penalty been given, it would have given the visitors the opportunity to go 3-1 up in the first half, with the U’s boss having some choice words for fourth official James Oldham.

“I said to the fourth official ‘what you lot should do over the weekend is go and play football because you would actually understand that just because he is 6ft 6ins, it doesn’t mean you can’t have fouls against him’ and it does feel like that at times.”

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy’s double ended Swindon’s five-match winless run in a 3-1 victory over Tranmere.

Following an opening 20 minutes desperately low on quality, Sean McGurk added some. He got the ball in the box, sold the defender with a dummy and then fired a shot beyond Luke McGee.

Tranmere did not need long to respond as a block fell to Rob Apter on the edge of the area and he drilled an effort first time into the bottom corner.

Swindon took their lead back as Udoka Godwin-Malife threaded a pass through the defence from inside his own half and Hepburn-Murphy rounded the goalkeeper to tuck home.

Hepburn-Murphy really had the beating of his full-back and again raced beyond him to get on the end of a pass and flashed a shot narrowly beyond the far post.

The 25-year-old had his second after the break when he galloped beyond the defence and a fine ball through and tucked his shot away.

Matt Smith’s 22nd goal of the season was not enough for Salford as Colchester rescued a late point in a 1-1 draw.

The travelling U’s, who have enjoyed an upturn in form since Danny Cowley’s appointment in early January, started the brighter.

Cameron McGeehan was denied by Alex Cairns, Riley Harbottle headed over from close range and Tom Hopper failed to convert an open goal from an acute angle.

Their wastefulness in the final third was punished by the Ammies, with Smith benefitting from good work by Callum Morton to tap in before the interval.

The imperious striker, who becomes Sky Bet League Two’s joint-top scorer alongside Notts County’s Macauley Langstaff, thought he doubled his account after the restart.

However, Smith was adjudged to have strayed into an offside position when he nodded home an Elliot Watt free-kick.

Spurred on by the disallowed goal, Colchester fought in pursuit of a leveller and they were rewarded when substitute Bradley Ihionvien struck with 15 minutes remaining.

Cowley’s outfit came close to completing a shock turnaround late on, but Cairns thwarted Ihionvien and Declan John blocked on the line.

Paul Mullin’s stoppage-time penalty rescued a point for Wrexham as they drew 1-1 at Forest Green.

Emmanuel Osadebe’s third-minute strike looked to have given second-from-bottom Rovers a third win in four but Mullin’s late strike kept his side in the promotion running.

Forest Green made the perfect start as Osadebe exchanged a one-two with Christian Doidge before he curled home a fine finish from the edge of the area.

Kyle McAllister then drove into space and delivered a cross for Doidge who headed goalwards but Arthur Okonkwo tipped the effort around the post.

Wrexham’s best opportunity of the half came when Mullin teed up Elliot Lee on the edge of the area but his effort blazed over the crossbar.

Forest Green were inches away from doubling their lead when Charlie McCann pounced on a loose ball but his deflected effort bounced just past the far post.

Jamie Robson was then adjudged to have brought down Mullin inside the penalty area and he hammered home the resulting penalty to take a point in the closing stages.

Emmanuel Adegboyega’s 85th-minute winner gave Walsall a fourth successive victory as they came from behind to beat Accrington 2-1 to move into the League Two play-off spots.

Ex-Walsall winger Jack Nolan fired Stanley ahead from the penalty spot but on-loan defenders David Okagbue and Adegboyega gave the Saddlers victory.

Walsall dominated early as Jamille Matt’s volley dipped over and Jack Earing steered Adegboyega’s pull-back inches wide.

Stanley responded with Joe Gubbins firing wide from Connor O’Brien’s low cross.

But Walsall went closer still as Liam Gordon’s deflected cross was cleared off the line by Lewis Shipley – with the Saddlers appealing it had gone over – and Josh Gordon blazed over the rebound.

Accrington went ahead after 56 minutes when Liam Gordon handled Tommy Leigh’s header and Nolan found the bottom corner from the spot.

Walsall were level within four minutes, Stoke loanee Okagbue burying a close-range header from Isaac Hutchinson’s deep corner.

Okagbue nodded another Hutchinson corner across goal for fellow centre-back Adegboyega, on loan from Norwich, to bundle home his third goal in four games to win it.

Newport maintained their play-off push following a seventh win in 11 League Two matches as they hammered hosts Harrogate 4-1.

Offrande Zanzala bagged his first goals since January 2023 with a brace while strike partner Will Evans took his season’s tally to 24 in all competitions and Seb Palmer-Houlden was also on target before George Thomson pulled one back for the Sulphurites.

Evans opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 31st minute after home defender Liam Gibson handled a long ball into the box by Kyle Jameson.

The 26-year-old forward found James Belshaw’s bottom-right corner as the Sulphurites’ keeper dived in the opposite direction.

Two minutes later the lead was doubled when Aaron Wildig saw an initial shot well saved by Belshaw before firing wayward with a follow-up effort that fell to Zanzala to net from a couple of yards at the far post.

Zanzala went on to put the outcome beyond doubt seven minutes into the second period when he stabbed in after the visitors had got the better of the hosts aerially following Adam Lewis’ pumped free-kick into the box from close to the halfway line.

Sub Palmer-Houlden made it 4-0 with 20 minutes left when he latched on to Evans’ ball through the left channel and fired inside the far post from 12 yards.

Thomson grabbed a consolation with his 12th goal of the season when he found Nick Townsend’s bottom-right corner from the edge of the box eight minutes later.

Sutton boosted their survival hopes and put a dent in Notts County’s promotion bid with a thrilling 4-3 win at Meadow Lane.

The visitors took the lead in the sixth minute when Stephen Duke-McKenna’s cross found Ryan Jackson at the back post.

But the Magpies responded quickly when Macaulay Langstaff saw his effort handled in the area. He dusted himself down to score the spot-kick.

However, Aden Baldwin’s under-hit back-pass presented Harry Smith with a run on the County goal and he took the opportunity for his 11th goal of the season.

Dan Crowley levelled just after the half-hour mark, looping in a header from Jodi Jones’ teasing delivery to end a pulsating first half.

Olly Sanderson’s first goal of the season regained the lead once more for Sutton, only for Crowley to level again with a superb finish from outside the area.

But it was Crowley’s outstretched leg that saw Charlie Lakin tripped inside the area late on and the midfielder stepped up to secure Sutton’s second away win of the season.

Stephen Clemence is confident Gillingham can remain in the play-off spots following a 1-0 home win against Wrexham.

Tim Dieng’s second-half tap-in lifted the hosts into seventh as they concluded an unbeaten week with two clean sheets.

Clemence said: “We showed this week that we can go toe-to-toe with any team in the division and I believe this group can beat anyone.

“We won’t always get it right, but we’ve had tough games recently and if we perform the same way we did today consistently then we will do well.

“When I go to bed at night after we play I tend to sleep well because I know that the boys are going to turn up and have a go like they did today.

“Of course we can remain in the play-off spots, but we know there will be bumps in the road and there’s still lots of points to play for. We’re just going to focus on the next game.”

Clemence went on to praise goalkeeper Glenn Morris who stepped in for the injured Jake Turner and impressed with a handful of superb saves to keep the hosts in the lead.

“I’ve always known that I’m lucky to have a brilliant number two waiting in the wings,” he said.

“Turner has kept a lot of clean sheets this season but it’s nice to know I have an experienced keeper in Morris, and he nullified Wrexham’s threats brilliantly today.”

Meanwhile, Phil Parkinson claimed Wrexham lacked “killer instinct” after failing to capitalise in front of goal and dropping into fourth.

He said: “We did a lot of very good things but lacked that clinical edge in their box.

“We’ve got to rediscover that killer instinct. There were a couple of breakaways in the first half and other moments, but it’s the ruthless edge and the clinical nature of our game that was missing.

“You won’t get to dominate a game for 90 minutes. But when you have those periods, it’s important to get a goal and recently we haven’t done that as well as we previously have.

“We are passing when we should shoot and shooting when we should pass and I think we are maybe just a little bit desperate to find those key moments, but we will address that for our next game.

“Football is about taking those big moments, but we will stick together. Everyone must step up a little bit more.”

Confidence is brimming at Doncaster and manager Grant McCann is convinced it can carry his side through to a strong finish to the campaign.

Doncaster beat AFC Wimbledon 1-0 to stretch their unbeaten run to five matches, with fears of being involved in a relegation fight now firmly banished.

“I think we’re playing with confidence and that helps,” he said. “We feel good about ourselves at the moment and we feel strong in all departments.

“The bench is strong and people are missing out on the matchday squad which is really helping us to keep the competition healthy.

“I think we have players in good form. I’m pleased with the whole team effort and the ruthlessness in both boxes – defending ours and attacking at the top end of the pitch.”

Hakeeb Adelakun scored the only goal of the game – extending his run to three in six matches after his January loan move from Lincoln.

Doncaster looked the more dangerous side throughout and handled late pressure from Wimbledon with relative ease.

McCann wants his side to deliver the best form in the division in the remaining games – and they are off to a good start as they sit second in the form table over the last five matches.

“I said a few weeks ago that we want to finish the season as strong as we can,” McCann said. “We had 18 games left. I showed those 18 games to the boys and told them I wanted them to finish top of that 18-game table.

“We’ve started that quite well with 11 points from the first five games and we just want to continue to build and see where we go.”

Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson was taking charge of his 100th game at the club but could only watch his side’s play-off aspirations continue to falter, with a third defeat from their last four league outings.

“We have got to keep working hard on the training pitch,” he said. “I know what we served up was not good enough and the supporters rightly showed their frustration. I’ve no issue with that.

“We deserved that reaction because it wasn’t good enough.

“The reality is that we’re in an OK position. We didn’t win but if we had we’d have been right under the tails of that top seven.

“We have to remember the situation we’re in and it’s not doom and gloom but today feels like a poor day because of the performance.

“We have a week on the training pitch and we have to be bang up for it. We need to attack the game next week and give the supporters a team they can get behind.”

Newport manager Graham Coughlan warned his side they must improve after branding their performance “really poor” as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at MK Dons.

County conceded three first-half goals at Stadium MK to Dan Kemp, Jack Payne and Alex Gilbey as they slipped to 16th in the League Two table.

Seventh-placed Gillingham are only five points better off, but this defeat was a blow to Newport’s play-off hopes.

Coughlan said: “We didn’t compete. They were better with the ball. We were sloppy and just didn’t come out of the traps.

“It was chalk and cheese to the Walsall game two weeks ago (which Newport won 3-0) when we got off to a flyer.

“Today we were up against it. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb. Some of the performances just weren’t good enough.

“It’s got to be better. At the end of the day, they may have a little bit of credit with me, the fans and the club, but I can’t have too much more of that. That was really poor today.”

By contrast MK Dons head coach Mike Williamson could not give his team enough praise as they registered their third win in the five matches.

In control of the fixture from start to finish, the Dons are now within three points of Crewe and the automatic promotion places.

Williamson said: “I could go through the whole team and even the lads that came off the bench made an impact, which you want.

“Everything we did out of possession really gave us that platform to be that good in possession and I said to the boys that’s what we’re going to focus on now.

“I feel as though we’re starting to understand the concept and the structure of how we want to play.

“The lads ran their socks off and left everything out there. So I can’t be any more complimentary. It was a privilege to watch it.”

Walsall boss Mat Sadler admitted his side’s margin of victory at play-off rivals Harrogate should have been greater than 2-0.

The visitors racked up a third straight win as Liam Gordon opened the scoring early in the second half and substitute Mo Faal was then credited with an 84th-minute effort, even though it appeared to be missing the target before taking a huge deflection off home defender Liam Gibson.

But Faal and Ross Tierney were both guilty of squandering other simple second-half chances for the Saddlers, while Douglas James-Taylor hit an upright with only goalkeeper James Belshaw to beat in stoppage time.

Ultimately, the wastefulness mattered little, though, as Walsall managed a first League Two clean sheet on the road this season.

Sadler said: “The first half was pretty even. Harrogate were getting behind the ball well and creating two-v-one counter-attacks on the break, which they do very well.

“It wasn’t until about 25 or 30 minutes in that we started problem solving on the pitch and grew into the game.

“After that, we opened the game up and had some fantastic chances, so the final scoreline should have been far more than 2-0.

“But, while I want us to be more clinical than we were, I’m absolutely delighted with the overall performance and I think it has to go down as one of our best away from home for a long time.

“We also had more than 600 fans who had travelled a long way for the game and didn’t stop singing all afternoon and getting behind the lads, so to give them the reward they deserved was very pleasing too.”

Harrogate had started the afternoon nine places above their opponents in the division’s final play-off place but ended it level on points in a congested table.

Manager Simon Weaver lamented his team’s lack of cutting edge.

“We were disappointed to concede the two goals,” he said.

“The second one was a counter-attack against the run of play really and we got caught out a few times like that, so we have to make sure we get our numbers right at the back, but I thought we were in the ascendancy for large parts and there was a lot of good play.

“I can’t just define it as a poor performance because we lost the game, but certainly our final pass and finish was missing, which came down to decision making and being ruthless.

“We know we have good players who are capable of that, but we fell a bit short in that department for this game.

“I thought we were building our momentum again after conceding first and the crowd were right behind us, which we really appreciated, but when you’re getting that far up the pitch, you need to find the bullets.”

Free-scoring Mansfield demolished 10-man Salford 5-1 to go top of Sky Bet League Two and first team coach Andy Garner believes they should have netted even more.

Stags have now scored 19 goals in four games and Garner said: “We should have scored a few more today, to be honest. That’s not being over the top.

“It was an absolutely fantastic win and we’re just disappointed to concede one.

“We’ve won 5-1 but with the chances we had we should have had eight in all honesty, no disrespect to the opposition.

“But we did score five fantastic goals so we are delighted. There was no sitting back, even at 4-1. We want to score goals.

“We won’t get carried away going top, that’s for sure. This club will never do that. This management and our staff won’t allow that to happen – and the players won’t either.

“We have 13 games left so there is still a long way to go. But we are enjoying it at the moment.

Will Swan headed Mansfield in front in the 18th minute from Aaron Lewis’ cross.

Salford, unbeaten in eight games going into this match, levelled through a superb solo goal by Junior Luamba in the 42nd minute, only to see Baily Cargill restore the Stags’ advantage in first half added-time as he diverted a Davis Keillor-Dunn corner in off a defender at the far post.

In the 57th minute Stephen Quinn set up a tap-in for Keillor-Dunn on a breakaway and City hopes nosedived further when Theo Vassell was sent off as last man for bringing down Lucas Akins in the 73rd minute.

Akins made it 4-1 as he raced clear with nine minutes remaining, before Hiram Boateng poked home the fifth deep into stoppage time.

Salford boss Karl Robinson was left fuming over the red card and a string of decisions by the officials.

“It was shambolic at times and that’s not the team, that’s the officiating again,” he said.

“Referees don’t come to me and speak about things being fair. I don’t think some of the actions today were fair for my team.

“I had a go at them once and was booked – he just couldn’t wait.

“Matt Smith’s shirt is ripped. He was dragged about left, right and centre but the referee didn’t give a thing.

“We even had Theo Vassell’s shirt actually over his head and the referee gave it to them.

“For the sending-off the lad has stood in front of Theo and you will see there is no contact.”

He added: “We were good first half and went toe to toe with a side that is now top of the league.

“We got beaten 5-1 in the end, but that’s football. Sometimes it falls for you and sometimes against you, that’s the way we play.

“But I am baffled by some of the things that have gone on on that pitch today.”

Forest Green boss Steve Cotterill was delighted for the fans after his side boosted their League Two survival hopes with a 1-0 win over Tranmere.

Charlie McCann’s stunning strike was enough for 10-man Forest Green as Ryan Inniss was sent off for a second yellow card late on.

The hosts recorded their first home win since October as a Rob Apter-inspired Tranmere were unable to force a late equaliser.

“You’ve got to have the fans back in love with you,” said Cotterill. “Perhaps I can be that go-between to lift the club again. That’s what I feel it needs.”

The returning Jordan Moore-Taylor headed narrowly past his own post after a mix-up with emergency loan goalkeeper Vicente Reyes.

Apter shifted a yard of space and struck a fierce left-footed effort towards Reyes’ near post but the Norwich loanee tipped around the post.

Reyes made a superb save to deny Apter again after his strong run and effort was deflected towards the far corner but Reyes denied the winger.

Harvey Bunker forced Tranmere goalkeeper Luke McGee into a smart stop from his 20-yard effort as the hosts began to build some pressure.

McCann rounded off a fine Forest Green move with a stunning strike just before the break to send the hosts into a half-time lead.

In the second half, Apter found Harvey Saunders inside the penalty area but his right-footed effort was stopped by Reyes.

Inniss was given a second yellow in the closing stages but the hosts navigated a significant amount of Tranmere late pressure for a precious win in Gloucestershire.

“It’s nice for our supporters to see a win here, a clean sheet, and a great goal,” added Cotterill.

“We need to make it a real tough place to come. We need to keep that positivity as much as we can.”

On Inniss’ sending off, Cotterill said: “He slipped. It’s a blatant slip – you can see that. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

Defeated Tranmere boss Nigel Adkins admitted: “It’s fine margins. I thought we’d have enough to go win the game but they sat back and had blocks towards the end.

“I can’t fault the players for their attitude and application. The frustration, however, is with the result.

“Lots of possession, getting the ball in the right area but we didn’t quite get the final third right.

“I know the players have given everything this week. I’m hurting because the result has gone against us.

“It’s a wonder goal to win the game for them, we’ve got into good areas, a couple of fantastic blocks. From our point of view, the application has been first-class. We just didn’t get the result today.”

Crawley manager Scott Lindsey celebrated a “big result” after they made it three consecutive wins with a 1-0 victory over fellow play-off hopefuls Accrington.

Defender Harry Ransom’s first goal for Town sealed the win, heading home Will Wright’s corner via the post in the 68th minute, to move Crawley up to eighth place in the league.

Stanley had double-figure chances but found Crawley keeper Corey Addai in top form.

Their best chance fell to Jake Bickerstaff in the sixth minute who was clean through but Addai did enough to deny him.

Lindsey said: “I am pleased with the result, it was a big result, and a clean sheet.

“Having said that, in the first five minutes, they had five shots and so we were a little open so I wasn’t happy with that.

“And Corey has done too much work again. I am pleased with effort and endeavour of the players but we have to make sure Corey doesn’t have to make that many saves and that’s the only disappointment for me.

“At the other end, I feel we got into good areas but we did not make enough of it.

“We ended up scoring from a set-piece, Harry Ransom sticks it in, it’s a great goal, but I want to see us score from open play in a game like today.

“I can’t be greedy, this is a tough place to come. They have good players, a good manager and are well-organised so winning 1-0 is a good result.

“The last two play-off off places down to mid-table and beyond, there are so many teams who can get in those final play-off spots and no one is taking control.

“We have to keep winning, five or six wins, if we are to take a play-off spot. This is a great win but we have to keep going, we are not done.”

John Coleman saw his side have 23 efforts on goal, 10 on target.

However, they could not find the breakthrough as the Reds dropped to 14th place.

“It’s frustrating but on the positive side, the pleasing thing is we are making more chances,” said Coleman.

“We have wasted a couple of opportunities, if Jake’s chance had gone in early on we would have gone on and won the game, but it wasn’t to be and you have to take your chances when presented.

“Their keeper has been worked the most by a mile. Our keeper has made one good save but they didn’t really look like scoring.

“These are fine margins. People don’t mean to lose their man from corners but it happens and it has cost us.

“I just don’t think a lot of things bounced for us today but we kept on going to the end.”