Why Walsall's Dylan Thomas is already looking like a first team member
A bitterly cold wind descended from the River Sheppey as a red-cheeked Dylan Thomas readied himself for his third cameo from the bench in Walsall colours.
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The Saddlers had avoided an early scare as they cruised to a 4-1 crushing of eighth-tier opponents Sheppey United in front of the ITV cameras.
While his team-mates put their feet up for a well deserved rest on the 202-mile overnight trip back to the West Midlands, Thomas was preparing himself for yet another match the following morning.
“He played for us the next day,” Walsall academy boss Rob Williams remembers. “His family were really supportive and helped get him home and back to us by the next morning.
“That probably highlights what Dylan’s character is like. He is desperate to play and whatever we ask him to do, he’ll generally do.
“And it was important for him to play because he played probably three or four minutes in the Sheppey game.
“So it was very limited game time and although the experience would’ve been incredible, actually they still need to get regular minutes into their legs.
“Those sort of experiences are few and far between but it’s testament to him as a character that he didn’t decide to stay in bed because he was tired after playing a few minutes and having had a long drive.”
Some 14 hours on, Thomas was thrown straight into the starting line-up for the under-18s in a 3-1 home defeat against Oldham Athletic.
Despite the result, Thomas earned glowing praise from senior boss Mat Sadler. “His mentality is fantastic. He has got a fantastic chance and we’ve got to look after him over the next 18 months,” Sadler declared at the time.
Thomas, who joined the Saddlers at the age of nine, was handed his first team debut in a 3-2 home defeat against Brighton under-21s in August last year.
Now 17, Thomas was named Apprentice of the Year and has been rewarded further with his first professional deal.
And the impression he has made in training suggests he is a potential first team star in the making.
“The biggest compliment that you can pay him is that none of the lads shirk giving him the ball because they know he’ll take care of it,” Sadler noted.
“He comes into training, which is most days now, and just looks like a first team member.”
