Walsall sign West Brom youngster Shaun Donnellan on loan

The 20-year-old, who can play in either defence or midfield, is the Saddlers sixth signing of the summer.

Donnellan has skippered the Baggies under-23’s team and scored in the Premier League club’s 2-1 friendly win at the Banks’s last month.

A Republic of Ireland international, he spent the second half of last season on loan at National League Premier outfit Dagenham and Redbridge, making 18 appearances.

Saddlers boss Jon Whitney believes Donnellan will provide much-needed competition.

He said: “He has come into reinforce us in defence and midfield. He is a good size, a good physical presence.

“I first saw him at Worcester when Amadou Bakayoko was there on loan a couple of years ago and I kept tabs on him.

“John Still at Dagenham raved about him after he went there on loan last season.

“We are trying to get a relationship with West Brom after we took Romaine Sawyers, Sam Mantom and Paul Downing a few years back. I am close to (Albion youth coach) Darren Moore. We have been discussing this move for while.”

The Saddlers have been left a little short at the back with Matt Preston still to agree a new contract and James O’Connor deemed surplus to requirements by the boss.

Teenager Kory Roberts started Wednesday’s 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat at Sheffield United and impressed in a three-man defence, yet Whitney admits he needs more experience to allow more tactical flexibility.

“Kory has done well but I need my four centre-halves,” he said. “Young Dan Vann has done really well but he is a first year and one for the future.

“We need more experience in there to flip between the two formations.”

Whitney would also like to bring another Baggies prospect, Tyler Roberts, to the Banks’s as his summer-long search for a striker continues.

The 18-year-old is one of several names on the Saddlers shortlist, with Whitney determined to bring in “one or two” forwards before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

“It is still ongoing,” said Whitney when quizzed on his striker search. “With the Carabao Cup games, teams who have stayed in have kept their players because they are in another round.

“Had things been different with a couple of clubs we might have got one or two strikers in.

“We are still talking. I will be on the phone again today. We will keep banging the wall eventually a brick will shift.

“We will see (whether we sign one or two). It depends what we go with, whether it is a young one or someone more experienced. We will keep our options open and keep pushing.”