Walsall boss Dean Keates looking for non-league gem

The Saddlers have a couple of players who have impressed locally for part-time clubs.

Centre-half Dan Scarr and centre forward Josh Gordon, albeit with spells at Birmingham and Leicester in between respectively, shone for Stourbridge and Stafford Rangers.

And Keates, who played for Rushall Olympic just a few years ago, is ready to tap into that market.

“We have to. We can’t go and spend fortunes and fortunes on players,” he said.

“We have to look and recruit right for us as a football club.

“It’s players that have learned their trade in non-league and done well.

“Dan used that as a platform – went to a Championship team and learned for two years at Birmingham.

“It’s a big step-up. But in Dan’s situation, he’s had two years at Blues. And he had 25 games at Wycombe.

“Josh had a year-and-a-half with Leicester so on the tactical side, that would have been affected and worked on.”

Gordon has been with Walsall since the start of the campaign, while Scarr joined on a two-and-a-half-year deal earlier this week.

He was an integral part of Stourbridge’s run to the FA Cup third round in 2016/17, and Keates said: “He’s come in and given us strength at the back.

“He’s eager to do well and take the opportunity, trying to establish himself as a No.1 centre-half.

“It’s the right kind of player to come in. He’s accustom what non-league football is about, the rough and tumble side of it.

“He’s done that. He played well at Stourbridge and earned his move to Birmingham.

“He did a couple of years at Birmingham so will have learned a lot more on the tactical side of the game, how to act as a full-time professional.

“He had a good spell on loan at Wycombe last season, so that’s of benefit to us.

“We’ve got a deal done for these next few years.”