Shropshire Star

Ex-Shrewsbury loanee Tyler Roberts joins Walsall

Walsall have announced the signing of former Shrewsbury Town loan star Tyler Roberts on loan until January.

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Tyler Roberts (AMA)

The 18-year-old is the second player to join the Saddlers on a temporary basis from West Brom this summer, after 20-year-old defender Shaun Donnellan.

A Welsh youth international, he shone during a loan spell at Town last campaign and won the young player of the season award.

Walsall boss Jon Whitney is delighted to have completed the deal and said: "It’s nice to get it over the line and they see him as a really good fit for us.

"Bringing Shaun (Donnellan) in and playing him has helped us, because they see a pathway and important match time.

“He’ll be a very important member of our squad and he’s a tremendous prospect."

Comfortable out wide or through the middle of the attack, Roberts scored four goals in 13 games for Shrewsbury last term.

He had a loan spell at Oxford United before that, scoring twice.

Whitney added: "He’s proven he can score goals at this level and I feel, when we targeted him and profiled him, we really think he can tie in to what we do and we can improve together.

“I’d like to thank Tony (Pulis) and West Brom for trusting us with a second of their players in the summer.

"It’s a great relationship we’ve got going forward.”

Roberts has made one Premier League appearance for West Brom, coming on as a substitute in their 1-1 draw with Liverpool in the 2015/16 season.

On the move, he said: "I can see they’ve got a good team spirit here and that showed in training today.

“I feel confident coming into the club and hopefully I can improve on last season and get more goals.

“Coming into the club I want to keep progressing and keep working hard."

He added: “I spoke to the gaffer and he said obviously there’s things I can improve and things I’m good at.

“We’re going to get down to work on them - this is a good opportunity to do that.”

Roberts will wear shirt number 18 during his stay at the Banks’s Stadium.