Hutchings playing the waiting game

The Saddlers boss is waiting for his out of contract players to pen the new deals offered to them, but has so far only seen Richard Davies sign.

Clayton Ince, Jabo Ibehre, Netan Sansara and Rene Gilmartin are yet to commit as are Sofiene Zaaboub, Chris Palmer and Manny Smith.

But, with fans eager to see new faces bolster a thin squad, Hutchings is keeping his powder dry.

He said: "We're leaving our options open until we know exactly which players who we have offered contracts to will take these up so, at the moment, things are ongoing.

"It is still very early days. We're still in May and the full pre-season training does not start until July.

"We will know more in the next couple of weeks, but we are looking at the market at this moment in time and looking at the players who are available."

But the players are already back in maintenance training, overseen by the manager, although he will not overwork his men.

He said: "We're working at 75% at the moment just to maintain a level of fitness.

"They are doing a lot of ball work and disguised running, which is working with the ball rather than just going on long runs, that's not what this period of pre-season is about.

"Th players are doing a weights session as well in two groups, so one group are working in the gym and one outside then they swap after about 45 minutes.

Hutchings insists it was important to come back early to avoid any injury problems in the summer.

He said: "Apparently last year a few of the group came back with little niggles after a couple of days training, so we thought it was best for the players to keep a decent base-level of fitness.

"Every player has to attend 10 of the sessions put on, training Tuesday and Thursday means they will keep themselves ticking over."