Walsall manager Darrell Clarke has spoken ahead of this weekend's League Two clash with Mansfield Town and called upon his players to ignore the Stags' struggles and focus on the task in hand.
Mansfield will arrive at this weekend's clash on the back of a 4-2 midweek defeat to last season's National League champions Barrow, the result seeing manager Graham Coughlan axed in favour of Academy manager Richard Cooper.
Saddlers boss Clarke, who saw his side suffer their first defeat of the league season in midweek, admits he is well aware that Mansfield will be looking to start their spell under a new, albeit temporary, boss in style but wants his side to focus upon themselves.
Speaking via the club's official website, Darrell said; "They were one of the favourites for promotion this season. They have a healthy squad and healthy budget.
"They haven't had the start they'd like and it's always disappointing for managers to lose their job, it's never nice to see but that's the brutal world that we managers know we're in.
"That's the way the footballing world is and I'm sure Graham will bounce back. I know Graham, he's a strong character and he'll learn from it.
"That's what you have to do when you get setbacks in life and football, learn from it and try and move forward, which I'm sure Graham and Mansfield will do. As a football club they're not in a position they want to be.
"It's probably come at an awkward time for us as they get a fresh impetus and a little bit of a boost but we have to go there and do our job.
"We have got to show what we're about and focus on our performance. You only have to look at their squad to know the talent they have.
"They're massively underachieving at the moment and they’re not hit their heights, so you have to be wary and respectful of that.
"We also have to make sure the focus is on us and about what we do. A new caretaker manager comes in and you can't second guess what they'll be about. You have to focus that our performance is better than what we performed the other night."