Lee Grant reveals Antony Evans dilemma ahead of Walsall trip to Exeter

Lee Grant insists new loan signing Antony Evans is “ready to contribute” for Walsall, but is mindful that the trip to Exeter City on Saturday could come “too soon” for him.

Evans became the Saddlers’ 15th and final signing of the summer transfer window when he landed on a season-long loan from Huddersfield Town on transfer deadline day.

The 27-year-old trained with his new teammates at Essington on Thursday, but currently lacks game time after not featuring competitively for his parent club this term.

Grant will take that into consideration when selecting his team for their visit to Devon, but is pleased with the early signs that his latest recruit has shown.

“He’s ready to contribute. Looking at the way he trained today [on Thursday], he’s telling everyone that he’s ready to contribute,” head coach Grant revealed.

“Whether he’s ready to contribute against Exeter City is a very different proposition because he has been in the building for 24 hours.

“Despite the fact that he’s one of the most intelligent players I’ve worked with, Antony hasn’t been exposed to lots of what we’re doing yet.

“He played some [minutes] in pre-season. Has he played over the last three or weeks? Not really, so we’ve got to be careful.

“We’ll weigh up a lot of things in terms of our selection. He’s ready to go and looking good, but perhaps Exeter could come too soon for him.”

Evans worked under Grant at Huddersfield last season, although the midfielder experienced an injury-hit campaign at the Kirklees Stadium.

He previously had a successful spell with Bristol Rovers, where he scored 26 goals and set-up the same amount in 142 appearances, winning automatic promotion to League One in 2022.