Saddlers’ boost as defender signs

Defender Paul Boertien has given Walsall a welcome summer boost by signing a new one-year contract at the Banks’s Stadium.

The former Derby man has penned a deal to keep him with the Saddlers for a second season despite a first year that was hit badly by injuries.

And the 29-year-old today claimed he had little hesitation about committing himself despite the uncertainty over manager and players at the club.

“Of course you want to know who the new manager is going to be but it never really came into my thinking over the new contract,” he said.

“There are some good people at the club and I’ve got confidence in them to appoint the right person. And, whoever it is, I’m looking forward to meeting him in pre-season and hopefully showing him what I can do.”

Boertien suffered a season of mixed fortunes after ending a long association with Derby last summer to move to the Banks’s Stadium.

He performed impressively when fit but also spent two lengthy spells on the sidelines, courtesy first of a knee injury and then a broken toe.

However, he is confident he can put his injury problems behind him.”