Walsall boss may spring Jones shock

Walsall manager Chris Hutchings has refused to rule out a shock return for Steve Jones on Saturday after the winger moved a step closer to ending his injury hell.

The nine-goal wide man, out for over two months with a groin problem, played 35 minutes of the reserves' 3-2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday yesterday.

Jones has struggled to overcome the persistent injury, with a number of aborted comebacks, but hot on the heels of Tuesday's historic 2-1 win at Leeds is edging towards a return.

Now Hutchings admits the player could be in contention for Saturday's visit of Brentford.

He said: "We'll have to wait and see, we'll see how Steve is today. He might be stiff and sore but we'll evaluate him.

"We wanted to introduce him slowly. We didn't want to push him, he's trained for a few days now and it was a case of if he got the last 25 minutes he knows he can get through it.

"It was very much a case of testing the water but we're delighted he's come through."

The Saddlers have struggled without their talisman since he was first sidelined in December and have won just twice in 10 games without him.

Hutchings reckons if any team lost a player of Jones' calibre they would find them hard to replace.

He said: "Steve has been a loss. He was our top scorer, he is elusive, scores goals and creates. It's a loss for anyone who loses their top scorer at that time. It's good to have him back."

But the news has been tempered after Peter Till was sidelined for 10 days with a hamstring injury. Till succeeded Jones on the right and has played in every game his rival has missed.

The winger was withdrawn at half-time at Elland Road on Tuesday with a small recurrence of the problem which hampered him earlier in the season.

Hutchings said: "Peter will be a week to 10 days and it's a blow for the lad. It's a bit of scar tissue which has pulled away from the injury before.

"It's the way things go and it was unfortunate and we'll see how he responds."

Darren Byfield is also back in contention after missing the win at Leeds through illness.