Isaac Hutchinson: Walsall midfielder says new head coach will have plenty to work with

Isaac Hutchinson joined Walsall on a free transfer from Southend in July 2022

Walsall midfielder Issac Hutchinson says the new head coach will find the club "all set up to go back up" when they are appointed in the coming weeks.

The Saddlers are working on bringing in a replacement for Michael Flynn who was sacked in April after a run of 1 win in 20 games.

More than half of those matches were drawn as the club's hopes for a tilt at the League Two play-offs faded.

"We know we've got more in us," Hutchinson, 23, told BBC Radio WM.

Hutchinson, who was voted Walsall's young player of the year for 2022-23, scored his eighth goal of the campaign as the Saddlers ended the season on a high under caretaker boss Mat Sadler with a 2-1 home win over Doncaster.

It brought a season, that at one stage looked like delivering a promotion challenge, to a frustrating end.

The Saddlers had made a bright start under Flynn, rising to only two points off the top seven, with a game in hand, after beating seventh-placed Mansfield on New Year's Day.

But the wins dried up and, although they lost only seven of the next 20 games, 12 were drawn - including six in a row - as momentum drained away and with it hopes of a first return to League One since relegation from the third tier in 2018-19.

"We've been there or thereabouts this season. We didn't play as well as we can in that period," Hutchinson said.

"The club's been in League One not long ago, and a lot higher as well, and it's all set up to go back up.

"We need that season to kick on. We need a bit of luck for things to fall into place.

"But certainly for the first half of it we were very close to it and can say we didn't really reach our full potential.

"We can push on again there's no saying where we'll be."

Sadler will 'have a conversation'

Walsall owners, Trivela Group, say they are already in a "thorough process" to identify the new head coach and Sadler told BBC Radio WM he will "have a conversation" about applying for the job on a permanent basis, adding he had "thoroughly enjoyed the last three weeks".

"The football club wants to get this next appointment really right and is going to be doing a lot of hard work to get that right person in charge," he said.