Mal Benning impressing Walsall FC boss Dean Smith
Dean Smith today predicted a bright future for Mal Benning after hailing the youngsters recent performances.
The 20-year-old has impressed while standing in for injury-hit Andy Taylor at left-back in recent weeks.
Taylor is now back in training after recovering from a knee injury but Smith admitted the performances of Benning means he is not guaranteed an automatic return to the starting line-up.
When asked if Taylor would come straight back in Smith said: "I don't know, Mal has done really well.
"We know Andy is a good player and it's good to have competition there.
"Mal has come in and we know what he can do. He is going to be a really good player for this club."
Smith has been impressed by the way Benning has bounced back, after admitting the former youth team player's confidence was badly-affected by a poor performance in the 3-0 home defeat to Preston earlier this season.
Benning is likely to start in the return game at Deepdale this afternoon.
"Mal made a couple of mistakes during that game and I think it affected him a lot more than it would have a more experienced player," he said.
"But the good thing is he's come through that. He's had to bide his time to get back into the team.
"Unfortunately for Andy it was an injury but when Mal has come in he has done well."
