Walsall winger hails attacking strength
Winger Ashley Hemmings today claimed Walsall are now a more potent attacking force than they were last season.
Boss Dean Smith was forced into a major overhaul of the forward line following the summer departures of Febian Brandy, Jamie Paterson and Will Grigg.
The Saddlers face Grigg on Saturday when they visit his new club Brentford. But their replacements have started the campaign well.
Milan Lalkovic and Romaine Sawyers are both off the mark and Craig Westcarr, who re-signed during the summer, has looked sharper.
Hemmings and fellow winger James Baxendale have also impressed and the latter is the Saddlers' current joint top scorer with Westcarr.
Former Wolves man Hemmings is excited by the potential shown so far and believes the new-look attacking unit can only get better. "Things are looking really good," he said.
"First you have Milan, he is great. You know he is sharp and his small stature fools defenders who don't think he will be the best. He has done superbly.
"Craig Westcarr has started off great and so has James Baxendale.
"Romaine is great to play with too, because he is a more relaxed player and when gets on the ball, he can pick out a great pass.
"I think to be honest our forward line looks sharper than last year and if anything, we are more deadly."
Hemmings was on the scoresheet himself in the first round League Cup win at Port Vale and admits scoring more goals – he struck only twice last season – is one of his aims.
"That's definitely something I want to improve on," he said. "This is probably the happiest I have been with my football."
