Andrew Davies eyes a mentoring role

Walsall loan star Andrew Davies has declared himself ready to mentor the Saddlers' youngsters after revealing his Villa and England influences.

The Stoke defender is primed to lead the club up the table when they go to Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday.

Davies has pinpointed former Villa aces Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu as his own inspirations, after playing with them at Middlesbrough.

He said: "I know it's a young back four and a young team, so hopefully I can just do what the likes of Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu did with me when I was younger and pass on the experience to them, then things can change from being a negative start to a positive start.

"I've played with a lot of good defenders and I've learned from them.

"I'm like a no nonsense player who will put everything on the line and try and do the best for the team."

The 25-year-old has no regrets over making the move to Walsall, after helping the Saddlers off the bottom with last weekend's 2-1 win over Exeter.

He said: "It was an easy decision to make, I didn't want to sit around for four or five weeks waiting for clubs.

"I know what I can do on a football pitch which my past loan periods have shown that."