Rayleigh boy
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pre TRANMERE but sort of interetsing
Walsall defender Rhys Weston today revealed how the fear factor created by the club’s young stars has helped the senior players raise their game.
The Saddlers head to League One leaders Tranmere tonight with five of the likely starting line-up aged 21 or under.
And Weston, who made an impressive return to the team against Huddersfield on Saturday, reckons the emergence of new young talents has had a knock-on effect for the whole squad.
He said: “It’s fantastic for the likes of Mark Bradley, who has come in and done extremely well.
“And you tend to forget that Scott Dann and Anthony Gerrard are only 20 and Danny Fox is only 21. We’ve got a lot of players like David McDermott and Richard Taundry knocking on the door of the first team as well.
“It’s healthy competition and it’s good for them but it also keeps the older professionals on their toes as well because you know if you rest on your laurels you could be out of the team the next minute.
“We’ve got a healthy balance at the moment of youth and experience and Tommy Mooney is leading from the front.
“He has taken the armband over for the last three games and he has been a shining light to everybody - the younger guys and the older guys.”
Richard Money’s side travel to The Wirral looking for a fourth straight victory and Weston admits he is stunned by the scale of the turnaround in the last fortnight.
The club have moved from bottom spot to the top half of League One in three matches.
“The beauty of this league is that everybody is capable of beating everybody else on a given day,” said Weston.
“Two weeks ago we were rock bottom of the league and now we’re five points off the top. If we win tonight we could be fourth, sitting pretty.”
And Weston reckons he could be an unlikely goal hero tonight - after revealing he has ‘previous’ against Rovers.
But the Saddlers full-back will have greater priorities than scoring when Walsall enter the home of the League One leaders.
Weston regained his place in the starting line-up against Huddersfield on Saturday after being dropped for the previous two matches.
And, while a third career goal would be welcome, the former Wales international is more intent on staying in the team.
“Football is full of trials and tribulations, and the manager made a decision to leave me out for two games,” said Weston.
“I have to look at the bigger picture. It was for the greater good and the team won the two games so I couldn’t really complain.
“All I can do is try to perform well, to the best of my ability. I’m part of a squad and I don’t have a god-given right to be on the pitch every week and there will always be people who are fallible because of how things have gone in the weeks before.
“The manager has said in recent weeks that the shirt is yours until you play yourself out of it so it’s up to me.”
Walsall boss Richard Money looks set to name an unchanged team on the Wirral with no fresh injury worries in the camp.
Rovers will be without Wales goalkeeper Danny Coyne, who is on international duty, so experienced understudy John Achterberg will deputise.
Striker Chris Greenacre is likely to be sidelined with blisters.
Walsall defender Rhys Weston today revealed how the fear factor created by the club’s young stars has helped the senior players raise their game.
The Saddlers head to League One leaders Tranmere tonight with five of the likely starting line-up aged 21 or under.
And Weston, who made an impressive return to the team against Huddersfield on Saturday, reckons the emergence of new young talents has had a knock-on effect for the whole squad.
He said: “It’s fantastic for the likes of Mark Bradley, who has come in and done extremely well.
“And you tend to forget that Scott Dann and Anthony Gerrard are only 20 and Danny Fox is only 21. We’ve got a lot of players like David McDermott and Richard Taundry knocking on the door of the first team as well.
“It’s healthy competition and it’s good for them but it also keeps the older professionals on their toes as well because you know if you rest on your laurels you could be out of the team the next minute.
“We’ve got a healthy balance at the moment of youth and experience and Tommy Mooney is leading from the front.
“He has taken the armband over for the last three games and he has been a shining light to everybody - the younger guys and the older guys.”
Richard Money’s side travel to The Wirral looking for a fourth straight victory and Weston admits he is stunned by the scale of the turnaround in the last fortnight.
The club have moved from bottom spot to the top half of League One in three matches.
“The beauty of this league is that everybody is capable of beating everybody else on a given day,” said Weston.
“Two weeks ago we were rock bottom of the league and now we’re five points off the top. If we win tonight we could be fourth, sitting pretty.”
And Weston reckons he could be an unlikely goal hero tonight - after revealing he has ‘previous’ against Rovers.
But the Saddlers full-back will have greater priorities than scoring when Walsall enter the home of the League One leaders.
Weston regained his place in the starting line-up against Huddersfield on Saturday after being dropped for the previous two matches.
And, while a third career goal would be welcome, the former Wales international is more intent on staying in the team.
“Football is full of trials and tribulations, and the manager made a decision to leave me out for two games,” said Weston.
“I have to look at the bigger picture. It was for the greater good and the team won the two games so I couldn’t really complain.
“All I can do is try to perform well, to the best of my ability. I’m part of a squad and I don’t have a god-given right to be on the pitch every week and there will always be people who are fallible because of how things have gone in the weeks before.
“The manager has said in recent weeks that the shirt is yours until you play yourself out of it so it’s up to me.”
Walsall boss Richard Money looks set to name an unchanged team on the Wirral with no fresh injury worries in the camp.
Rovers will be without Wales goalkeeper Danny Coyne, who is on international duty, so experienced understudy John Achterberg will deputise.
Striker Chris Greenacre is likely to be sidelined with blisters.
