Express & Star

Walsall striker Dan Agyei insists hard work is paying off

Walsall striker Dan Agyei believes his impressive form in front of goal is down to the hard work he is doing in training.

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The 20-year-old, who is on loan from Burnley, netted his third goal in four matches on Saturday as the Saddlers played out a 1-1 draw with rivals Shrewsbury.

Agyei opened the scoring at the Banks's Stadium with a stunning right-footed strike from 25-yards.

That goal arrived less than a fortnight after he scored from a similar distance with his favoured left foot against Charlton.

And he said he has been working hard on scoring all types of goals since moving to the West Midlands.

"I'm not used to scoring spectacular goals – it's a recent thing," the forward said.

"The goal against Shrewsbury was on my right foot, my weaker foot.

"But I’ve been working hard in training to be able to score goals with both feet. And the minute I hit it I thought it was going in which is a great feeling.

"It’s always pleasing to score goals no matter how they go in.

"But I feel I am learning all the time. I've settled in really well here. All the boys have been great with me and given my advice.

"It's tough to know which goal is my favourite. The one against Shrewsbury was on my weaker foot.

"But Charlton was the last minute just seconds after we went behind so that one just wins."

Agyei felt Walsall were unlucky not to take all three points from the Saturday's derby with fellow striker Tyler Roberts seeing a late header brilliantly saved by Craig MacGillivray.

"It was tough game but I thought we worked really hard as a team and we were a bit unlucky not to win it with Tyler’s header at the end," the striker continued.

"Overall it was a good performance and a good result, especially considering the start they have had."

While Agyei caught the eye with his goal, it was 19-year-old defender Kory Roberts who was crowned man of the match on only his second league start of the season.

And the striker admitted he was hugely impressed by his team mate.

"Kory is a great lad," Agyei added.

"He is only young and he is still learning. But he has now done really well against both Shrewsbury and Plymouth."