Rene Gilmartin today underlined his determination to keep his starting spot and says years of patience at Walsall have finally paid off.

The Saddlers keeper has kept Clayton Ince on the bench for the last eight games during the best run of his professional career.

He is set to start again at home to Exeter on Saturday and is revelling in his new- found responsibility.

He said: “It’s been a long time. It’s what I’ve wanted since I’ve been here. Over the years I’ve had people saying to me ‘you’re going to move on because you’re not getting in the team’ but I’ve dug deep.

“I feel I’m in there and the gaffer has faith in me, but I’m going to keep on working on it. It’s never going to be a case of ‘I’ve got the jersey and now that’s it.’ I’m always going to try to keep going to make a career for myself.

“If you look at the contracts I’m getting they are for one year. I’m always fighting and working hard to keep myself in football because that’s a massive thing for me. I don’t want to lose my place, I want to stay in as long as I can.”

And the 22-year-old hailed the influence of Mick Kearns and says the goalkeeping coach has been a massive help. He said: “In the last year there was no-one there for me to work with so I started slipping up. The more I play, the more Mick and I can talk about it. Mick has been great since the start of the season.”