SADDLERS' boss, Chris Hutchings has expressed his disappointment in the way that Chris Palmer departed the club this week to join League One rivals, Gillingham.

"We verbally agreed a deal with the lad and it was just a case of waiting for him to sign on the dotted line," he said. "He started pre-season training with us on Thursday and indicated that he just wanted his agent to go over the contract before he signed it.

"He then failed to report to training on Monday without informing anyone and we later found out that he had signed for another club.

"The way that he has handled the situation is very disappointing."

Meanwhile Hutchings also clarified the situation regarding French wide-man, Sofiene Zaaboub. "Once more a contract was agreed verbally and the player was to report back for pre-season training along with the rest of the team on Thursday morning," he went on. "I received a phone call late on Wednesday from Sofiene informing me that another club wanted to take him on a three-day trial. He was told that if he did not report for training as agreed his contract offer would be taken away as I only want people here who are committed to the club.

"Again it is a very disappointing situation, but I can assure everyone that we are working extremely hard behind the scenes to strengthen the squad and we hope to have a couple of new additions next week."