Walsall Football Club are delighted to announce the return of centre-back Jack Fitzwater on a season-long loan deal from West Brom.

The 20-year-old became a popular figure during his loan spell with the Saddlers last season and played an important role as we secured our League One status.

He scored three goals in 17 appearances and received widespread praise for his assured performances, being rewarded with a new two-year contract with Albion in June.

“It’s good to have Jack back at the club,” said manager Dean Keates.

“It’s been an ongoing situation for us to bring in a right-sided centre-half and I’m grateful with how West Brom have helped us out.

“He knows the football club and how we operate.

“You could see the quality he has last season. He went off at half-time against Wimbledon when we were 2-0 up and you could see how much we missed him.

“He’s a young lad who is still developing and he came on leaps and bounds here last season.

“Darren Moore was more than happy with how we helped him last season. All parties are happy with the deal in place and hopefully we can help each other going forward.”

Coming through the ranks at The Hawthorns, Fitzwater was named Academy Player of the Year in 2014/15 and enjoyed loan spells with Chesterfield and Hednesford during the 2015/16 campaign.

He captained the Baggies’ Premier League 2 side in 2016/17 and appeared in all three of their Checkatrade Trophy matches that season.

Loaned to League Two Forest Green last summer, the promising defender scored one goal in 22 outings for Rovers before joining Walsall for the second half of the season.