Lee Barnard insisted Saints wanted to make a statement of intent as they crushed Walsall.

The Saints striker netted his second brace in three games for his new club as they demolished the Saddlers 5-1 for their biggest league win of the season.

It was a big return to form for Saints after their goalless draw at Wycombe the previous Tuesday.

That had followed the marvellous 2-0 victory against Norwich at Carrow Road – where Barnard also scored a double to open his Saints goal account.

Saints were cruising at half time against Walsall having turned the game round after conceding an early goal to lead 3-1.

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But Barnard insisted the squad did not want to merely see time out but instead use the remainder of the match to show the rest of League One just what they are capable of.

He said: “We were 3-1 up at half time but we didn’t want to just sit back and see the game out – we wanted to make it more and make a statement and I think we did that.

“It was a good performance.

“We know we needed the result and not only did we get a good result, we got a good performance as well.

“Scoring two goals, especially in front of the home fans, is nice and hopefully there are plenty more to come.”

Barnard believes the victory over Walsall has kept Saints’ slim play-offs hopes alive.

They now sit 17 points off of sixth placed Huddersfield, who they face at St Mary’s tomorrow.

If Saints beat Lee Clark’s Terriers then they can justifiably harbour realistic hopes of a storming run to reach the play-offs.

If they fail to claim the three points then the chances of them making the play-offs come May will start to look very remote.

Barnard said: “We’re aiming for the play-offs so we’ve got to believe, keep playing and getting results.

“All we can do is keep winning and then we might be able to get in there.

“We’ve got a great team, a great squad and we’re good attacking-wise.

“The boys are buzzing now, but we’ve got another big game on Tuesday.

“We need to put in the same performance.

“They (Huddersfield) are a good team and they are where we want to be, so we have to beat them to get anywhere near them.

“And if we play like we did against Walsall then I’m sure we’ll win.”