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SIMPLE passing was what was asked of Athletic in the second half against Walsall on Tuesday night.

As far as manager Paul Dickov was concerned, his side failed to provide it.

From being two goals down, Walsall halved the deficit and would have ensured the spoils were shared were it not for Alex Cisak's last-gasp, match-winning penalty save.

In the end, the three points provided a second win in the last 10 matches — and a first in npower League One since before the turn of the year.

“Even up to when Walsall scored, we were comfortable," said Dickov. "Too much so, maybe.

“We started taking too many touches on the ball and it is so important, as we have seen before, that when you are leading 2-0 if there is another goal that you get it.

“We gave the ball away far too easily. Then they scored and we were on the back foot.

“We have been due a bit of luck. Some of our performances have been good and we have not always picked up the results.

“I thought we deserved to win, apart from the last 10 minutes when they put pressure on us.

“It is nice to get the three points.”

One of the highlights of the night for the sparse crowd was the sheer quality of Athletic's strikes, which came from the respective left and right boots of Filipe Morais and Robbie Simpson.

“It was a great finish," Dickov added, talking about Morais' third goal of the season.

“We talk about when we get it wide, having the opposite wide man as well as the two forwards in the box. Filipe did that and he got his rewards for it.

“On the second goal, we know Robbie likes to play in the hole. But we need to get him in the box, because he is a very good finisher. “