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Darrell Clarke: Walsall aiming to secure new signing by Monday

Walsall manager Darrell Clarke has confirmed the club are aiming to secure a new signing on Monday.

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Speaking at a fans forum event at the Banks's Stadium, Clarke took questions from Saddlers fans alongside club secretary Dan Mole, CEO Stefan Gamble and chairman Leigh Pomlett.

It comes after the permanent signing of 18-year-old winger Jack Nolan, who joined from Reading.

Several questions were fixed on the club's movement in the current transfer window and Clarke admitted they are looking to do business on Monday.

"Hopefully on Monday (we'll have one).

"He's a League One squad member who has played around 30 games there.

"I'm looking to get him over the line on Monday.

"I'm in the market for an experienced wide player too."

In a separate answer, Clarke also addressed the issue of a lack of height in the Saddlers midfield.

He added: "It's something we're addressing.

"Hopefully next week there's a six-foot midfielder coming in."

Pomlett added: "We've got some money still available in this window.

"That will finance the players Darrell is talking about."

Of the four players currently on-loan at Walsall, Clarke has admitted he would consider signing two of them – hinting at midfielder Rory Holden and goalkeeper Jack Rose.

"Maybe two out of the four," he added.

"Cameron Pring is thought of very highly at Bristol City and they see him as a future first team player.

"I think Rory Holden's form in the middle of the pitch has been very, very good.

"He didn't do so well in wide areas but we'll have a look at that.

"A lot of the under 23 players have played very well.

"So everything has to fit with the price and making sure we get the player for the money.

"Rosey (Jack Rose) has done quite well in goal, we like him.

"We have him on a season loan from Southampton, that was with a view of maybe extending it.

"That's why I brought him in, because he lives around this area.

"We'll see how things go.

"Liam (Roberts) is having a very good season and there might be one or two offers for him in the summer."

Meanwhile, one fan asked for an update on midfielder Stuart Sinclair's latest injury setback.

Clarke confirmed he is nearing a comeback, while he also explained his reasoning for not discussing injuries with the press.

"It's a calf problem, hopefully he's back a week on Saturday," he added.

"I'll speak to any of our supporters about injuries

"But I don't want to do any manager's job for them by talking about it in the press."

More talking points:

Dan Mole discussed safe standing at the Banks's Stadium.

"We're looking at rail seating that flips up into a standing area," he said.

"We've looked at different models and have looked at an area at the bottom of the Homeserve stand.

"An area of around 250 spaces.

"The work is ongoing and we're discussing it with the supporters groups.

"We're well on the way to getting to what we want and like many things we're at a point of looking at costs.

"The sports ground safety authority are on board – it's them that will drive it and sign it off."

Darrell Clarke apologised for the club's home form this season.

"I want to start off by apologising for our home performances this season," he said.

"My remit in the summer was to steady the ship, we have an honest and robust group of players at the club.

"The lads are giving me everything.

"The biggest disappointment has been our home form and we need to rectify that with more attack-minded players.

"I left myself short in the summer on wide men after working on a 3-5-2 but we fell short on creating chances.

"Wes came to the fore and now we're trying to get another wide player to be more attack minded at home."

Finally, Leigh Pomlett spoke about the figure needed to reunite the club with the freehold of the stadium and the need to improve the match day experience.

"It's millions," he said.

"It's not one or two million, it's more than that.

"We're going to take more action (with the match day experience).

"We're looking at setting up pop-up bars to serve beer and reduce queues.

"The number of people we employ to stop the queues is more than it was.

"We're looking into pop-up bars to help reduce the queues for beer.

"That is in process.

"If we haven't solved it, then we will solve it."