Dann's Bescot boost

The 19-year-old centre-back has been given the all-clear to resume training following the broken foot that cut his season short this spring.

And he is now confident he will be fully fit when Saddlers kick off their League One campaign against Carlisle at the Banks's Stadium on August 11.

"The boot's been off for about a month now and the bone was in line, so it's healed fine," he said.

"I've been able to start running again and now that I've had a holiday I'm just focussed on being fit for the start of pre-season."

Dann, who was the surprise success story of Walsall's League Two title-winning campaign, missed the end of the season after breaking a metatarsal bone in training.

But his presence following an impressive breakthrough season is the major reason why manager Richard Money has central defenders at the bottom of his summer shopping list.

Dann, Ian Roper, Anthony Gerrard and Allan Picken – hoping to be fit again after a year of knee trouble – form an impressive pool of centre-halves that Money hopes will help his team make the step up to League One.

And Dann, who is set to be offered a new contract in the coming weeks, is itching to test himself in a higher division. He said: "Obviously it's a step up and we're going to be up against better teams than we faced last year but we will cope with that.

"Last season was a real breakthrough year for me and I want to make sure that I keep that level of form and consistency up at a higher-level."