Jon Whitney heaps praise on multi-faceted star Erhun Oztumer

The 26-year-old came back to haunt former club Peterborough on Saturday when he opened the scoring in the Saddlers 1-1 draw against Grant McCann's side.

Oztumer, who has already netted four goals this season, has now found the back of the net 13 times in his last 25 appearances at the Banks's Stadium.

And Whitney believes Walsall's Wizard of Oz has moved on from the days when he was seen only as an attacking midfielder.

"Erhun scored a great goal against Peterborough but we know he is capable of that," Whitney said.

"It was nice for him against his former club, if you ask him who he'd most like to score against it would be Peterborough.

"He can now score all types of goals.

"He has scored a two-yard tap-in this season. He has scored from outside the box and against Peterborough he has scored from inside the box with a great finish into the roof of the net.

"We're playing him high up the pitch. In the past it's been said we haven't played a front two but we played a front two with Erhun on Saturday. Erhun played up top with Tyler Roberts.

"And that's what he is learning, that he doesn't always have to be dropping into midfield.

"He can stretch the line and he is taking that on board and getting his rewards."

Meanwhile, Whitney revealed promising defender Callum Cockerill-Mollett is facing a spell on the sidelines after injuring his knee while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland's under-19s.

"Callum has got a long-term knee injury," the boss added.

"It's not surgical. The longest he could be out for is three months. The shortest is six weeks.

"He has got a fractured knee-cap which is a strange injury. It is something we have to treat conservatively. We'll then have to see how he reacts to that treatment.

"We're probably looking at three months though before he is back playing football."