Trust from boss Byfield has given Hancock 'freedom'

Walsall defender Mason HancockShutterstock

Mason Hancock has made 16 appearances in League Two this season with half of those coming in a row in Darren Byfield's first eight games in charge

Dan WheelerBBC Sport, West MidlandsandTom MarlowBBC Radio WM

Walsall defender Mason Hancock said he "can't put into words" the positive effect interim head coach Darren Byfield has had on his game and confidence since he took over at the League Two club in early March.

Hancock has been an ever-present under Byfield having recovered from five months out following knee surgery at the start of the year.

He scored his first goals for the Saddlers on Saturday in the 3-1 win at Barrow in his eighth consecutive appearance.

"It's probably worked out in my favour all the change in the club," Hancock told BBC Radio WM. "I'm getting sharper and slowly building towards this moment - this is what it's all about when you're in a gym working hard."

Hancock has had his longest run in any first team since August 2024 and he said that much of the credit for that has to go to Byfield.

"I can't really put it into words the trust, the faith, the freedom that he's given me since the moment he came in," he said.

"I'm not sure whether I was expecting it or not at the time. I was keeping my head down and working hard when things weren't going well, and I can only thank him.

"He's brought out the player I am and I'm so grateful to be showing the club, the fans, the boys, the player that they saw glimpses of at the start of the season.

"All credit to him. Without him, I don't know how this season would have ended on an individual note. He's come in and made it easy for me to go out there and be the person I am."

Although Walsall's play-off ambitions are over, Hancock said, with two games to go, it remains important to finish the season well.

"No matter where you are in the table, pride is always there to play for. You've got boys that are running out of contract, you've got boys that are maybe looking to pinch a move, so everyone's playing for something different," he said.

"So to go out there and put a performance up, when it's fair to say there's not much to play for, it speaks a lot about the characters we are and the platform that Daz is building for us."