LEE CLARK hailed the drive and desire which brought a vital win in one of Town’s most amazing matches in years.

But he emerged from the nerve-shredding 4-3 home victory over 10-man Walsall to warn: “We should never have needed a late fightback.”

It took a 90th-minute header by Antony Kay and a stoppage-time strike by Lee Novak to put Town three points clear of Colchester in the final League I play-off place.

While Colchester lost 1-0 at Charlton, it looked like Town were going to suffer defeat as well after Walsall stunned the home faithful by hitting back from two down with goals in the 64th, 69th and 83rd minutes.

That trio overhauled Theo Robinson’s 22nd-minute penalty (which brought the dismissal of Walsall skipper Mark Hughes for a professional foul on Jordan Rhodes) and Rhodes’ effort in first-half stoppage time.

“The players are rightly happy because they have won a game that was slipping away,” said Clark, whose side host third-placed Millwall on Friday.

“But as manager, I have to see the bigger picture, and we shouldn’t have ended up being behind after going 2-0 up on home soil against 10 men.”