Andy Taylor has hailed the strength in depth at Walsall following the club's strong start to the season.

The Saddlers occupy an automatic promotion berth in League One, having lost just two of their opening 15 games.

Dean Smith has looked to experiment in different areas of the pitch so far, with Taylor singling out the additional options available to the manager from the bench as the main reason behind Walsall's positive run of form.

"In seasons gone past we have been in games and struggled to break teams down - you look at the bench and, with the greatest respect, there wasn't too many options," the defender is quoted as saying by the Express & Star.

"Now you look at the bench and it's strong. There are several different options that are available to the manager to change to the game. He actually says that all the time in his team talks - it's not just the starting lineup that wins the game, it's the 18 players in the squad."

Walsall find themselves two points off top spot in the third tier ahead of Saturday's meeting with Gillingham at the Banks's Stadium.