Jon Guthrie: Walsall rallying around Kory Roberts

Roberts, Saddlers’ Young Player of the Year, is now set to miss the entire 2018/19 campaign after breaking both his tibia and fibula in the friendly against Stoke.

Guthrie admitted losing Roberts for so long has affected the squad. But the defender is backing his team mate to return stronger than ever.

“It was terrible what happened to Kory,” Guthrie said. “He was having a great game and it was all set to be a big season for him.

“He is a talented player. On the day it was not nice. It made the result irrelevant. We have all got around him and all spoken to him. We have all sent him messages.

“A couple of the lads have been down to see him. We are all sending our love to him and we are looking forward to him coming back.

“I’m sure he’ll return fitter and stronger than ever.”

The injury to Roberts aside, Guthrie believes Walsall have had a positive pre-season – with defeats to Rushall, Stoke and Villa followed by victories over Ajax and Cheltenham.

“I think pre-season has gone well,” the former Crewe man said.

“A lot of hard work has gone into it. On the training ground, we have worked hard.

“But at the same time the manager and the staff have made it enjoyable – it’s been a good environment to work in.

“When it’s come to the games, we’ve had some tough matches against some good teams.

“But I think we have improved game by game and we are now looking forward to the season.

“I think shape wise and our ball retention have got better. If you look at the Stoke and Villa games and then the Ajax and Cheltenham games, you can see the improvement.

“There are still a lot of areas we need to improve but we’re looking forward to the season starting.”