Walsall manager Jon Whitney, who is yet to complete his first signing of the summer, has spoken to club journalists and unsurprisingly revealed that his current first-team and several members of the club's youth and development squads will be given the platform to impress during pre-season.
Jon, who was speaking via Saddlers.co.uk, sought to concentrate on the chance to gain match fitness rather than secure any sort of winning run, he said; "First of all it’s mainly to get match fitness. I’ve got a certain amount of games that I want the players to play in and a certain amount of minutes to try to aim for. We’ve got some big ties with local clubs - Stafford will be a good game."
The Saddlers will be taking on several local sides along with trips to Chester and Lincoln, where they will take on Jimmy Walker's Lincoln City, Whitney continued; "Chester will be a good tie with our ties - loans and Sharpy being their former assistant manager. Lincoln City is a great one for me to go back to and it’ll be a real challenge leading up to the start of the season. We’ve got a good mixture and some really good under-23 games.
"Steve Harper, who I used to play with at Huddersfield Town, has gone in at Chasetown as first-team coach and he contacted me so we’re giving them a game.
"There’ll be a chance for all my players to prove themselves. I’ll give them all a chance to try to get themselves into my reckoning. They will get opportunities and there will be enough minutes for them. There will be a chance to impress."