Mat Sadler looking to continue building Walsall relationships

Goalkeeper Jackson Smith and midfielder Harvey Griffiths arrived on loan from Wolves, while Ryan Stirk joined from Birmingham City.

The Saddlers also plucked teenage defender Harry Williams from non-league Alvechurch, and fellow centre-back David Okagbue (loan) and forward Douglas James-Taylor from Stoke City.

Sadler announced his intentions to utilise his contacts in his first press conference, and has praised Wolves and Stoke for their co-operation in the deadline day signings of Okagbue and Griffiths respectively.

“The two we brought in on deadline day, we have been tracking them for weeks and weeks,” Sadler said. “We had that thing about clubs needing one in, to let one out, and fair play to Stoke and Wolves, they have honoured that but it just took a little bit longer.

“Credit to both Wolves and Stoke, with the relationship that we have got with those clubs, we were the first club that their players have gone to.

“We have to harness those relationships when we can.

“I have signed Jackson Smith from Wolves, Ryan Stirk from Birmingham and players from Alvechurch, Stoke and Wolves again – we are utilising everything we can in the local area and that is something I wanted to do when we set out on this project.”

Walsall signed a total of 12 players during the summer, including the long-awaited return of Danny Johnson.

Priestley Farquharson (Newport), Chris Hussey (Stockport), Aramide Oteh (Crawley), Ross Tierney (Motherwell – loan), and Freddie Draper (Lincoln – loan) complete the list of arrivals, and Sadler is pleased with the depth across his squad.

“In terms of the squad, I am very pleased with it,” he added. “There were no knee jerk signings in any of the work we have done this summer.

“Credit goes to the team that we have working in recruitment, we were strategic in every player that we brought in.

“We will have different players that we will need for different occasions which shouldn’t be overlooked.”