Jon Whitney: Walsall looking forward to challenging pre-season set-up
Boss Jon Whitney believes Walsall's pre-season programme will prove the ideal preparation ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.
The Saddlers, who return to training at the end of June, have organised seven friendly matches as they look to ramp up their preparations for the new season.
As well as high-profile clashes against Villa and Albion, Whitney's men will also face Lincoln who earned promotion into the Football League last month.
They will also take on local non-league sides Solihull Moors, Stafford Rangers, Chester and Rushall Olympic.
And Whitney admits he is already looking forward to seeing his players return to action.
“We’re really looking forward to our pre-season schedule," the boss said.
“We’ll get some stringent challenges in these games for both the senior and the younger lads.
“It’s always nice to test yourself against Premier League and Championship sides, and hopefully we can get big crowds for the games against West Brom and Villa in July.
“These friendlies should set us up well for the new season in August - but there’s plenty of hard work to be done before then.
“The lads will be coming back in for pre-season training in late June, and hopefully the training sessions we’ve been doing over the summer will help some of the young players hit the ground running.
“Then we’ll be well set for our first match away at Solihull on July 15, a place we enjoy going to.”
