Bristol Rovers loanees on trial at Walsall after Fulham and Crystal Palace releases

Sion Spence and Timmy Abraham are both currently on trial at League Two club Walsall after loan spells at Bristol Rovers.

Spence had been the most recent loanee and was a player here last season, whilst Abraham had a short spell in 2020.

The 21-year-old is on the search for his next club after being released by Crystal Palace following two years at Selhurst Park.

He spent the last year of his Eagles contract on loan with the Gas and played a small part in helping them get promoted last season.

Spence was signed on a season-long loan and joined in mid July and went on to make 12 appearances in total for the club.

He played six times in the league but he only started once and left having had just 353 minutes of match action. His best moment was a brace against Oxford United in an FA Cup first round replay in a 23-minute cameo off of the bench.

Funnily enough, Spence’s prospective new club is the team that he scored his one and only League Two goal against, netting a 91st minute winner after Connor Taylor had cancelled out Kieran Phillips’ opener back in September. It ended a nine-month wait for an away win.

Despite what was a spell that was frustrating for game time, Barton believed that Spence’s time in the West Country will come as a benefit to his career: “I think back to Sion’s goal at Walsall and Oxford in the FA Cup,” he recalled to BBC Radio Bristol back in May.

“They were massive goals for us in terms of momentum and keeping that upward trajectory in the season. He never played as many minutes as he probably would have done in a successful period for him, but we also feel that has added value to him.”

Also hoping to earn a deal is Abraham, who played four games for Rovers after joining in the second part of the 2019/20 season, though he failed to find the back of the net.

The 21-year-old is a free agent and a report from the Express & Star says that the Saddlers are now running the rule over him. He was one of a few players that featured for them in a training match against Birmingham City on Tuesday afternoon.

Walsall already have former defender Rollin Menayese in their ranks, as well as Andy WIlliams with the latter making the move to the Bescot Stadium this summer after his contract with Cheltenham Town expired.