Matt Preston stays as Walsall target two more

Centre-back Preston saw his previous contract with the Saddlers expire at the end of the June but has remained with the group throughout pre-season.

And Whitney revealed a deal to keep the 22-year-old at the club has now been agreed.

"Matty and I have come to an agreement," the boss said.

"Matty wants to stay and we want to keep him.

"He is one we can really work with. There are areas to improve but he has got lots of strengths as well. Hopefully he will be signed up this week."

Despite keeping Preston in his ranks, Whitney wants to sign another central defender before the season gets underway.

The boss is also keen to bring in a striker - but said any deal will depend on his budget.

"I think we’re still lacking a centre-half – I’d like a bit more experience in there," Whitney continued.

"That is one I am looking for. Then I will see what I have got left and I will try and get something up top.

"I have got to look at what I have got to work with budget wise. The players I have brought in so far, I have had to compete with other clubs to get them.

"We had to push to get them and we will have to work out what we have got left.

"As a club we want to develop our own players but I understand we need to make the right signings to be competitive."

While keen to bring in a new front man, Whitney stressed the need for strikers Amadou Bakayoko and Simeon Jackson to find the target more in the new campaign.

"We need to make sure the lads we have got step up," he added.

"Ama needs to step up if he wants to be a number one. Simeon needs to step up as well.

"Both of them have set a target of being the clubs leading goal scorer, they have to show that now.

"And we also need to also chip in with goals from elsewhere. We need to be better from set-pieces both for and against. These are the personnel I am looking for."