Smith on pre-season schedule...
THE SADDLERS will welcome two Premier League outfits to Banks’s Stadium as part of our pre-season preparations.Leicester City, fresh from storming to The Championship title, visit us on Wednesday, July 30th, before we lock horns with top-flight neighbours, Aston Villa, on Tuesday, August 5th.
“We are delighted to be coming up against two top-flight opponents in Leicester and Aston Villa,” said manager, Dean Smith. “Villa are an established Premier League side who always provide us with a stern test, whilst Leicester will be on a high following promotion.
“It will be good to welcome Nigel Pearson and former Walsall midfielder, Craig Shakespeare, to Banks’s Stadium and it’s a game that we are looking forward to.
“You always want to test yourselves against the better teams and that will be the case with these two games.
“We have worked hard on putting our pre-season programme together and I am happy with the games that we have in place so far. It will also be nice to get away as a group for a week in Devon, during which time we’ll have a couple of games against Taunton Town and Torquay United.
“Allied to the matches, we have developed a fitness and training programme that will really help us prepare for the challenges that the new season holds in store for us.”