George Evans elated at Walsall debut

Midfielder George Evans has described his whirlwind 24 hours after signing for Walsall – and then scoring in the win over Barnsley.

The Manchester City youngster joined the Saddlers on a one-month loan deal on Tuesday morning, before stepping straight on to the team bus for the trip to Oakwell.

With Sam Mantom out injured, the 20-year-old was handed a starting spot and immediately repaid boss Dean Smith's faith with the opening goal in the 2-0 win.

And Evans, who spoke to former Saddler Jordy Hiwula before joining, admitted his start to life at the Banks's Stadium couldn't have gone any better.

He said: "The first 24 hours were great and very exciting. I got to training with Manchester City on Monday and they told me a phone call had come in from Walsall.

"I rang Jordy straight away and he had nothing but good words to say. He told me it's a fantastic club, a close-knit club and they play really good football.

"Hearing things like that made it even easier to come. I came down on Tuesday morning, met the lads and spoke with Dean and he said I was going to play. I was delighted."

While pleased to mark his debut with a goal, Evans was more impressed with the performance of Smith's side at Oakwell.

He said: "I thought we played some excellent football – I thought we were outstanding. I got a goal, which is a great start, but it's great credit to the team. They all work really hard for each other.

"We played it out from the back and kept playing in a very positive way and I'm really looking forward to being part of this team and the challenge ahead.

"Hopefully we can keep winning and move back to the top of the table."

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