TOMMY Mooney has praised his team-mates for 'bailing him out' after The Saddlers' top-scorer missed a penalty on Saturday.

1-0 down at the time, Mooney's spot-kick was well-saved by Tranmere's Danny Coyne but, thanks to strikes from Alassane N'Dour and Ishmel Demontagnac, the skipper ended up on the winning side as The Saddlers kept their play-off hopes well and truly alive.

"I was bitterly disappointed to miss the penalty," he said. "I have gone too long without scoring but I did everything I could for the team and, thankfully, the lads bailed me out.

"It was a really good team performance against a side that was in the top six. For the whole game we were the best team.

"This season we have not always got what we deserved and it could have easily been one of those days.

"But it was a day when we just had to put everything behind us, put on a performance and hope the result follows. That's what happened."