Captain Adam Chambers back in Walsall contention

The Saddlers skipper was forced to miss the victory over Colchester with a leg injury.

But while Walsall welcome Chambers back into the fold for Saturday's trip to Bramall Lane, linchpin defender James O'Connor remains a doubt with an calf injury.

If the centre-back doesn't make it, Whitney may hand a debut to recent loan signing Matt Pennington with fellow youngster Matt Preston also in contention.

"James is progressing well but he is still a doubt for Saturday," Whitney said.

"He has joined in with a lot of work we've done but we will keep monitoring him. For Adam Chambers, the international break has come at a really good time. "He started his running protocol yesterday and hopefully he will be fine for Saturday.

"I will have a really strong squad to pick form which is very difficult for me and the coaches but it's a great position to be in."

Whitney is also having to juggle his players coming back from international duty at different times with Tom Bradshaw, Jason Demetriou, Romaine Sawyers and Neil Etheridge all heading off with their national teams. But while Sawyers and Etheridge don't return until Friday, the boss is confident they will all be in the right mindset to play against Nigel Adkins' side.

"They are all coming back at different times but we've got a plan in place for all of them," Whitney added.

"Jason is back today.

"Tom is back on Wednesday and we will do some light stuff with him then.

"Neil and Romaine are back on Friday so it's a difficult time but's it's also good because they will be ready to play.

"The important thing for us is to make sure that the lads who haven't been on international duty are covering the same metres as they would in a game."