The former defender has linked up with another old team-mate in League Two

Former MK Dons defender Richard Keogh is hoping to help Walsall get out of League Two after agreeing to join the club as assistant head coach.

The 39-year-old played briefly for Dons in 2020, when he joined after his sacking from Derby County. Playing behind-closed-doors for the majority of his 21 appearances, he returned to the Championship after just six months at Stadium MK, signing for Huddersfield Town.

Spells at Blackpool, Ipswich, Wycombe and Forest Green followed before he hung up his boots, opting to go into coaching. Two years ago, he returned to Bloomfield Road to work under then-Blackpool boss Neil Critchley. Following Critchley’s departure, Keogh was placed in interim charge of the club, giving him his first taste of management.

He spent last season as assistant head coach to former Ireland team-mate Conor Hourihane at Barnsley but the pair departed at the end of the season.

Taking the summer to re-evaluate his options, the opportunity came up to join Walsall as assistant to Lee Grant - his former Derby County team-mate, who also coached Keogh at Ipswich.

“It took a bit of time for me to decide what I wanted to do after I left Barnsley,” said Keogh. “Once I spoke to Lee and the club about what they see it looking like, it was the right thing for me.

“We have a curiosity and an energy about ourselves, we want to push each other and we know our strengths and weaknesses. But we share the same values, and the vision for the group we want to put together.

“We spoke about it a lot, more so at Ipswich. We’ve always been students of the game, have wanted to learn and improve and that helped our game as players. We always joked when we were playing that we’d work together.”

Keogh continued: “My relationship with Lee goes right back to when we played together, but we’ve been really close throughout the years, which is rare in football to stay that close with someone you used to play with. I’ve seen Lee coach when I was playing at Ipswich, so I understand his methodology, tactics and what he’s like as a person.

“I’m excited about what we can do, and who’s to say it can’t be a great season.”