Walsall midfielder Isaac Hutchinson has been pleased with the progress he made during the 2022/23 season.
The 23-year-old ended the campaign with eight goals and seven assists in 53 appearances and he also won the Young Player of the Season and Goal of the Season awards.
While it was a disappointing campaign in terms of league position, Hutchinson is pleased with his individual achievements in 2022/23.
“If at the start of the season you told me I was going to get all that, I would have bitten your hand off straight away and been buzzing with that, especially the number of games that I’ve played and the role I’ve had in the team,” he said.
“I wanted that and I was pushing to get that but it’s not something you expect because you have to earn it. With how the season’s gone, I’m really happy with it.”
The former Derby County midfielder scored the second goal against Doncaster Rovers on Monday, which was his eighth for the Saddlers.
Hutchinson admitted that he targeted more goals this season but is satisfied with his return.
“I don’t think it’s bad at all,” he commented.
“I think for a midfielder you need to be around that at least to be influencing games. I set my targets a bit higher but there’s always next season to kick on again and hopefully I’ll do that.”
The Saddlers finished in 16th place in Sky Bet League Two with 55 points.
Hutchinson is confident the team can improve next season and maintain good form throughout the whole campaign.
“We know that we haven’t reached where we wanted to reach,” he admitted.
“But there’s been times where we’ve been so close to it but times where we’ve felt miles away from it and it’s just about when we’re in and around the positions where we want to be, we need to step on the gas and keep pushing and that’s just a bit of luck as well that we definitely haven’t had this season.
"I think next season that everyone is going to go into it knowing we can be there or thereabouts because we’ve been there this season and haven’t been at our best, we could have been better and who knows where we’d be?”