Grant wants more threat and goals from Walsall

New Walsall head coach Lee Grant says he will draw on his time working with Ipswich Town's strikers to turn the Saddlers into a more dynamic and threatening side in front of goal next season.

Grant was appointed a week ago, as Mat Sadler's permanent replacement, on a three-year contract.

The 43-year-old arrives at the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium with the task of reviving a club that has had two promotion challenges implode after leading League Two in each of the last two seasons.

Walsall scored 56 goals in 46 games in 2025-26 as they slipped from top in December to finish 13th, 13 points off the play-offs as Sadler, and then interim boss Darren Byfield, could not maintain their challenge.

Grant said he is aware of what he needs from his squad.

"I'm under no illusions that we've got to be really creative, we've got to work really hard when it comes to how we recruit, but we also have a lot going for us as well," he told BBC Radio WM.

"I think those are the things that really drew me to the opportunity and encouraged me to get really excited about it.

"The football club has taken really good strides forward and I know people will be frustrated because there's that sense of perhaps there was an opportunity for a bit more over the last two seasons, but I'd have to say full credit to the people that have been here prior to myself for pushing the club in the right direction."

The Walsall job is his second management position having been Huddersfield Town boss between May 2025 and January this year.

Prior to that he was part of Kieran McKenna's coaching group that helped Ipswich to successive promotions from League One to the Premier League in 2023 and 2024.

Those sides were renowned for their attacking prowess which brought a lot of goals under Grant's watch.

"I was the forwards' coach. We were the top scorers in League One with over 100 goals and we were the top scorers in the Championship with nearly 100 goals. And then we head into the Premier League and we managed to sell two of our forwards for nearly £70m - so we've done ok when it came to the brass tacks of creating and scoring," he said.

"That gave me a really good understanding and education in what is important when it comes to the principles around creating, scoring, being a threat to the opposition.

"That's certainly one of the goals for us. Can we be a more dynamic team when it comes to creating and taking opportunities? Can we be a more aggressive team when it comes to that mindset? And can we be a really constant threat to the opposition's backline?"

As Grant heads into the summer transfer window he said he "will be doing everything in my power" to bring players in that will give him "really good options off the bench" that increase the challenge and demand on the players to "hold the shirt".

The former Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and Derby goalkeeper added that his eight-month reign at Huddersfield was a "really good lesson" and will help him strive to get Walsall back into League One.

"The opportunity I have now is to apply those lessons and those reflections now as a, hopefully, new and improved version of myself.

"We all like to keep upskilling, always learning, always improving. That's certainly been the case for me over the last few months.

"I want to be winning lots of games and winning more in the second half of the season than we've done over the past 24 months so I'm going to set some lofty targets for the group and really want to lay that challenge down to the to the group on day one.

"There's absolutely no doubt that myself, the owners, certainly the supporters, want to be promoted out of this division.

"We will set our targets high, we will strive to improve everything we can around the club, squad balance, every other detail we can to try to give us the best opportunity."