Mat Sadler makes Walsall attacking admission as pre-season campaign ends

Josh Gordon and Jamille Matt led the line at the ARMCO Arena as Walsall closed pre-season with an underwhelming goalless draw against National League outfit Solihull Moors.

The aforementioned pair are the only fit centre-forwards available for Walsall ahead of the new season with Danny Johnson yet to return to training due to a neural infection.

Deon Moore, Javon Malcolm and Bobby Kamwa had been on trial at the club earlier in pre-season as Sadler looked to assess his options on the market.

Kamwa has since joined League Two rivals Newport County but Walsall are working to bolster their options in the centre-forward positions, and ideally before the season kicks off against Morecambe at Bescot next Saturday.

"Possibly. We'll see. Things start to move just as the season begins," Sadler responded when asked if a new centre-forward will be through the door before their League Two opener.

"What I want up there is those options. Options to be able to play against certain teams and certain formation and styles.

"We haven't really been able to have that currently. The guys that are playing are giving everything but sometimes it's different horses for different courses and that's what I always want.

"That's what I wanted last year and that's what we had in spells. I want to get that again. Of course, I know what we need to bring in, I am not blinded by that and we'll do it when the right ones become available."

Goalkeeper Tommy Simkin remains the only loan player on Walsall's books as it stands and Sadler revealed that he is working to bring in at least a couple more loan signings.

He continued: "Possibly. Certainly a couple of loans. We've got four available so we're definitely going to use some of those.

"We want to be aggressive with the guys that come available. There's been some that we've been hanging on for some time with and sometimes you have to move on from that if that's not going to become available.

"We have to make decisions at certain points with what we want to go with. Don't be surprised to see some before the season starts.

"We all know that we can't go into the season playing 3-5-2 with two strikers because we're clearly going to need more up there. But also from a stylistic point of view, we want to play different teams with different players and we'll need that as the season continues.

"I know where we need to strengthen but again I want to talk about the guys that are there, who are playing and continue to give everything."