Tough tests for Walsall FC

Jul 23 2010 by Ken Montgomery, Birmingham Mail

CHRIS Hutchings has defended his decision to draw up such a testing programme of pre-season fixtures for his embryonic Walsall side.

The Saddlers manager admitted his team were given a ‘good chasing’ in Tuesday night’s 4-0 beating by Wolves.

And things won’t get much easier over the next few days as Championship side Coventry and then Premier League giants Villa visit the Banks’s Stadium.

That leaves just their final friendly against Port Vale as a true test of what they can expect in League One this term.

But Hutchings is convinced he is doing the right thing.

“You could play a couple of lower teams to get confidence but I think you can get confidence by playing against these teams,” he said.

“You might get beaten but at the same time if you play well that gives you confidence.

“That’s why we brought Chris Stokes here, he was released from Bolton so he has got good pedigree

“We will be having a look at him over the weeks to see how he does against Coventry and Villa.

“We want to look at these players who are coming in against quality opposition so we know their strengths and weaknesses.”