Rushall Olympic defender Sam Whittall celebrates 250 games and two hat-tricks

Not only is he solid and reliable in defence, he also pops up with his fair share of goals at the other end of the pitch.

Take his recent 250th start for the club as a prime example.

Not content with merely helping Rushall Olympic reach the semi-finals of the Walsall Senior Cup courtesy of a 5-1 victory over Sutton Coldfield Town, he also had to go and help himself to a hat-trick.

“To reach 250 starts for the club is a great milestone,” he said. “It’s something that doesn’t happen very often these days, players don’t tend to stay at one club for that long, so I am really proud of the achievement.

“It also shows how happy I am at Rushall and how far the club has come since I first arrived here in 2016. Not many centre-halves ever score a hat-trick so to get two for Rushall is great and it was nice that the second of these came in such a significant game for me personally.

“There have been some really special moments since I have been here, but helping the club reach the play-offs for the first ever time at this level at the end of last season is something that I am extremely proud of and hopefully we can repeat the feat this year.

“When you look at how the whole club has progressed, at every level, it shows the ambition that the chairman has to keep pushing things on to the next level. The management team is also superb and the best that I have ever worked with.

“We have shown in our performances this season that we are capable of making the next step and pushing for promotion.

“Things have gone really well, especially when you consider that this is a new squad. It’s all come together well and we’ve picked up some great results, particularly our away form, which is unbelievable!

“I feel as though I am playing some of the best football of my career and that’s down to the enjoyment I get from being around the place. I just want to play my part, be that helping to keep goals out at the one end and scoring at the other.

“It would be great to get promotion and gain my 300th appearance along the way. What a celebration that would be.”