Liam Roberts: An honour to serve Walsall

Walsall goalkeeper Liam Roberts insists it is an ‘absolute honour’ to represent the club as he fulfils his dream of playing for his home-town team.

The 25-year-old rose through the ranks at the Saddlers and made his first-team debut in 2016 before becoming the club’s first choice shot-stopper in the 2017/18 season.

Having impressed between the sticks for Darrell Clarke’s team this season, Roberts says the novelty of walking out in front of the home fans hasn’t worn off.

“It’s an incredible feeling to walk out every single Saturday,” he said. “The day I got the number one shirt was an incredible feeling as well, to see all the hard work paying off.

“To be the number one for the club is a dream come true and it’s an absolute honour to play for Walsall.

“There’s great people at the club and with the fans it’s a family, the fans are the 12th man with us.

“They keep us going through tough times and when we’re doing well you can certainly hear them.”

With the League Two season unlikely to finish on the field after all 24 clubs agreed to end it early, Roberts has reflected on his campaign that has seen him further establish his place in the starting XI.

“I think I started the season well and then had a dip when the gaffer took me out of the squad,” he added. “You have to keep fighting for your position and doing the right things day in, day out. 

“For me, it’s been quite successful but I have to keep playing games and keep improving. 

“Right now it’s difficult to get the training in while we’re off, but I have to make sure I do it as we don’t know if the season will return – we have to make sure we’re ready. 

“We’ve all been given individual programmes to crack on with at home, we have to record everything on the Strava app and the gaffer is keeping an eye on it. 

“He’s (Maik Taylor) been sending me a few videos for my training 

“But he knows my personality and that I’ll do it anyway, he’s just been sending some pointers across to maintain and go over.”