Cameron Norman desperate to cement Walsall starting role

The 23-year-old is one of a small group that has been inherited by new Saddlers boss Darrell Clarke on the back of relegation to League Two.

He joined in January from Oxford United and said on the upcoming fourth-tier campaign: “I want to hit the ground running.

“I want to feature in as many games as I can, if not all of them.

"I will be working hard to make sure that I am one of the first names on the team sheet.

"The hard work never stops, and that has come from my little bit of a background from non-league. I will never stop working hard.”

Norman was snapped up by Oxford last summer after a stellar season for King’s Lynn Town in non-league.

He made 12 appearances for the U’s, and then nine as Walsall went down.

On life as a Saddler, Norman said: “To move two or three times in the space of a year, I am not going to lie, it has been a little bit draining, but it is part and parcel of the game now. I am happy to be here.

"It was tough in terms of the games, but that is something I can work on now and just settle a lot more over the summer, and be ready for the first game of pre-season.”

Norman was with Norwich as a youngster but did not play for the first team, and has also played for Woking, Concord Rangers and Needham Market in non-league.

He added: “With a new manager in place, it is a chance for everybody to start with a clean slate, and everybody will be looking to impress during pre-season.

“Everybody will be well up for it, and, hopefully, that will mean a competitive pre-season with the boys and a positive one going into the start of the season.

“Everybody is going to want to start well and everyone will want us to hit the ground running and get some points on the board early doors.

"It is about winning those tough games – your away games on a Tuesday night and then grinding out those results.

“We need to turn the tables and grind out those hard-to-get results that we weren’t getting last year.”