Walsall Head Coach Michael Flynn was pleased with new signing Danny Johnson’s performance after he scored the opening goal against Solihull Moors on Saturday.
Johnson and fellow striker Andy Williams both found the net as the Saddlers concluded their pre-season preparations with a 2-0 victory over the National League outfit.
The 29-year-old striker joined on loan from Mansfield Town just hours before the match and Flynn was impressed with what he saw, particularly under the circumstances.
“He hasn’t had much pre-season,” Flynn revealed.
“I was only going to give him 45 minutes but I thought I’d push it just to get the hour out of him to get him up to speed a little bit more.
“He hasn’t trained with the boys; he came on Friday night and it was pleasing to see Danny’s performance because he adds that bit of experience and guile in the box.”
The Saddlers have faced a variety of tests throughout their pre-season campaign.
Flynn has also had to contend with a number of injuries and even ended Saturday’s match with 10 men after Taylor Allen limped off after already using all available substitutes and admitted the situation has proved challenging.
“The thing that’s not ideal is we’ve had to have a lot of trialist this pre-season,” he said.
“The boys we want playing together hasn’t been able to happen as much as we’d like, that’s just facts.
“You saw (on Saturday) that we had to finish the game for the last 15 minutes with 10 men because we couldn’t risk Taylor (Allen) being injured but I was really proud of them in the last 15 minutes the way they dug in.
“We’ve got our attacking midfielder who is 17 playing left-back, we’ve got Flynn Clarke who’s never been on the left I doubt in his life and he’s almost doubling up as a second left back.
"We dealt with balls in the box, I know they hit the bar but that’s the only clear-cut chance they had in that period so the attitude, how they threw their bodies on the line was pleasing to see.”
Attention now turns to the season opener against Hartlepool United on Saturday.
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