IAN ROPER was delighted to bag his first goal of the season on Easter Monday and has now set his sights on fellow promotion-hopefuls Southend this weekend.

The 30 year-old defender headed home an injury time equaliser to seal a 1-1 draw with Crewe and revealed that The Saddlers, just two points off sixth place and five points off the fifth-placed Shrimpers, have their eyes firmly fixed on a play-off spot.

"I just went up and tried to get my head on the ball and just it hit me," he said of his strike. "It was my first goal of the season and it was good that it went in because a point was the least we deserved.

"We probably deserved more out of the game against Crewe because we had a lot of chances. They didn't have many chances and scored, pretty much against the run of play.

"The lads are pretty confident we can make the play-offs. We've just got to take things one game at a time.

"Southend will be a tough place to go. They're having a good season and harbor promotion aspirations of their own but we'll go there looking to get something.

"It's a big game and a hard place to go but hopefully, we can get a result.

"We'll just keep going. We've had a bit of a dip lately but we'll keep plugging away."

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