Walsall holding fire on Roberts

Chris Hutchings insists he will not rush Stephen Roberts back as the defender continues his recovery.

The 29-year-old has been sidelined with knee and back injuries since December and had an operation on his back to de-compress a nerve in a spinal disc.

The Saddlers are playing their first pre-season friendly at Rotherham this afternoon but boss Hutchings has resisted the temptation to throw him in.

He said: "Robbo has been training ever so well but we're not quite sure when going to be ready.

"He's a bit behind but he's done everything so far which has been a plus. Obviously we're monitoring his situation carefully because we don't want to set him back a week or two."

Mark Hughes has been brought in to add competition and Manny Smith is expected to form a big part of the Saddlers' defence next season.

But Hutchings hasn't ruled out giving the former Doncaster man, who made just 19 appearances last term, a run-out ahead of the season's League One opener at Brighton on August 8.

He said: "It will be important to get another week under his belt and then maybe get 25 or 30 minutes somewhere in one of the games to get back into it. I've been impressed with what he's done in training.

"We don't want to put time limits on it because he could get up and have some aches and pains so we're not working him too hard and sometimes he has an easier day and goes swimming."