Walsall manager Jon Whitney has spoken to the local press following his side's League One defeat to Rochdale, and has offered an update on the status of loanees Kevin Toner of Aston Villa and Josh Ginnelly of Burnley, who have now returned to their parent clubs.
Speaking via Saddlers.co.uk, Jon first discussed Aston Villa defender Kevin Toner, he said; "I thought Kev did well when he came in. He’s a really good lad and I have no issues with his attitude or on the training ground but I just felt we needed to look at a different option for the second half of the season.
"Matt Preston has moved on to the next level now and has become more consistent. We’ve then got Kory Roberts who we’ve seen can step in as well. So we felt it best to let Kev go back with our best wishes.
"Whenever we get a loan in, we want it to be beneficial for all parties. He’ll be wiser and stronger for the loan with us because I think it gave him a great insight into league football. Ultimately though, I don’t want to block the pathway of our own players moving forward into second half of the season."
Jon then went on to talk about Burnley winger Josh Ginnelly, who has also returned to his parent club after a six-month loan spell, Jon admitted that the former Shrewsbury Town prospect struggled early on, but would go on to earn a place in the team, he said; "Quite early we were debating whether Josh would go back to Burnley but full credit to him, the penny dropped and he started to grow in confidence. His general attitude improved and he earned his place in the team for a run of games.
"I think we were waiting for him to kick on again but we need someone who was more productive in terms of goals and assists. I had to be honest with him and I couldn’t see him getting match minutes.
"He needs to go and play more games, whether that’s in League One or League Two. There’s nothing but pluses for Josh. I’ll give him a glowing reference but we just couldn’t wait for him to push on. I think we need someone further down the line in their development but there will be clubs in for him I’m sure."