Walsall's Jack Earing loving life in the Midlands

The Walsall midfielder has experienced a season of growth both on and off the pitch, starting 34 out of 38 League Two matches in what is his first full Football League campaign.

His move to the Banks’s last summer was also the first time the Bury-born 23-year-old has lived away from home and he believes it could not have gone better.

He said: “I feel really at home – despite living away from home for the first time.

“I spoke to my mum the other day and said: ‘I don’t want to come back this summer, I’m staying down here!’. I couldn’t have asked for a better club to come to.”

Earing shares a house with team-mates Carl Rushworth and Rory Holden, who have themselves experienced vastly contrasting fortunes. While Brighton loanee goalkeeper Rushworth has impressed and is currently away with England under-21s, Holden hasn’t kicked a ball due to long-term injury.

Yet his contribution to Earing’s season has been important. He explained: “Rory especially made me feel at home straight away, considering he has been here for a couple of years.

“It’s been a tough year for him, not nice at all. But he’s helped me so much with settling in, as have all the lads. I couldn’t have asked for a better group.”

Earing played for Halifax, Spennymoor and Farsley after leaving Bolton, the club where he began his career, after they were plunged into a financial crisis in 2019.

Signing a two-year deal with the Saddlers last summer saw him realise the dream of returning to the Football League and while he is satisfied with his own performances, in what has been an inconsistent campaign for the club, he believes there is plenty more to come.

He said: “It’s my first proper season in the Football League and I feel I’ve done alright. I still don’t feel like everyone has seen my best ability.

“I know what my ability is and I’m confident in myself. I knew as soon as I stepped into this club that I wanted to be a starter. I knew I had the ability to play.

“Luckily, I’ve been playing most games and helping the team. There’s been bad results and good results, but I feel I’ve stepped up on and off the field. I’m still progressing, still young, and looking forward to what the future holds.

“What I wanted was to get back in the Football League as soon as possible when I dropped into the National League.

“I knew I could be a good player at this level or even higher. That’s where I aspire to be at.”