Walsall's swoop for Steve Jones came just in the nick of time according to Bradford boss Stuart McCall, who admitted he ran out of time in his bid to bring the forward back to Yorkshire.

McCall had kept tabs on Jones all summer in the hope of turning last season's loan spell at Valley Parade into a permanent move.

But he was powerless to do anything until another of the club's high earners had followed defender Graeme Lee out the door.

Paul McLaren's departure on Thursday finally gave McCall the green light to go for Jones - but by then the front man had already agreed a two-year deal to join the Saddlers.

McCall told the Telegraph & Argus: "We had a chance with him but I had to get rid of either Macca, Michael Boulding or Chris Brandon first. Unfortunately when Macca ended up going, it was too late.

"Jonah really wanted to come here and I'm disappointed that we couldn't afford to do it earlier than we tried. But we had to be careful because of the budget. And by the time we could do something, he'd already had a medical down there (at Walsall)."