Walsall Res 7 Rotherham Res 0

Walsall handed trialist Andy Butler the chance to impress as the reserves routed Rotherham's second string.

The centre-back was given an easy ride by a young visiting side as Alex Nicholls stole the show with a hat-trick at the Banks's Stadium yesterday.

Goals from Will Grigg, Aaron Forde and a brace from George Bowerman heaped further misery on the Millers in the Saddlers' second group game of the Totesport.com League Cup.

Former Huddersfield player Butler, who was replaced after 65 minutes, has been training with Walsall this week following his release from the Galpharm Stadium.

The 27-year-old made seven appearances on loan at Blackpool in the Championship last season as the Tangerines won promotion but has been deemed surplus to requirements by Huddersfield boss Lee Clark.

Walsall assistant manager Martin O'Connor said: "Andy did well, he looked comfortable, talked and organised."

But Butler had little to do with the Saddlers in charge.

They raced into a 3-0 lead inside 25 minutes as Nicholls, Bowerman and Grigg all netted before Bowerman's close-range effort made it 4-0 after 38 minutes.

Nicholls added a fifth from the spot after he was tripped by Harry Lord on 55 minutes and completed his treble five minutes later with a cool finish after neat work by Sean Geddes.

The 22-year-old then laid off for Forde to curl in from 25-yard to complete the rout.

Nicholls said: "I was pleased with my goals, two of them were pretty similar and I was confident with the penalty I felt I did well and gave a good account of myself.

"It's a case of getting my head down in training and reserve matches and seeing what happens."