Walsall are firmly back in the play-off frame after a comfortable 3-0 victory at Swindon whose own promotion hopes were severely dented.Saddlers midfielder Lee Holmes struck once in either half to put his side in the driving seat and Richard Money's team sealed the points in the final minute with a third from Alex Nicholls.

Holmes curled in an exquisite left-footed free-kick from 22 yards after Jerel Ifil fouled Kevin Betsy to give Walsall an 11th-minute lead which they never looked like surrendering.

The Saddlers midfielder doubled Walsall's lead after 56 minutes, latching on to Mark Bradley's pass and although Swindon goalkeeper Phil Smith saved his first effort, Holmes reacted to score into an empty net.

Holmes was denied a hat-trick by a last-ditch tackle from Swindon striker Simon Cox, who was lucky to escape with a yellow card for a foul which saw Bradley stretchered off.

Walsall iced the cake in injury time when Betsy again broke clear of a square defence and although he was denied by Smith, the luckless Swindon keeper could only watch as Nicholls scored into the unguarded net.

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