Express & Star

Mat Sadler keeping close eye on Walsall youngsters' progress

Walsall boss Mat Sadler is pleased with Ronan Maher’s progress on loan at National League North neighbours Rushall Olympic.

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Ronan Maher in action for Rushall Olympic (Jim Wall)

Maher scored his first league goal for the Pics in a 2-1 victory at Banbury last week and has also contributed six assists across his two loan spells at the club this term.

The 19-year-old also received his first career red card in a 3-3 home draw against Gloucester City last month and Sadler feels he will gain so much from the highs and lows of playing regular football.

He said: “We’ve watched all of his games back and see how he has been doing.

“As a young player, he has ups and has downs. He’s in the business end of the season with them now as they fight for their lives at that end of the table.

“It’s a really good experience for Ronan going through these waves. He got sent off a couple of weeks ago so that’s another experience for him of how to deal with that and how to deal with the emotion of conceding straight after it.

“That’s why it’s the perfect loan for him. Of course we want him to contribute, we want him to do well for Rushall and we want to keep that relationship strong with a club that’s so close to us.

“We’re pleased that he’s getting the game time that we hoped he would and that’s working out how we wanted it to at the start of the season.”