IT'S HARD to believe for a guy who was brought up in sun-soaked Trinidad but Clayton Ince today revealed that, when it comes to playing football at least, he'd take 'too cold' over 'too hot' any day.

It's not that the 35 year-old is some kind of sadist, it's more to do with the fact that he believes his concentration levels are much more advanced when Jack Frost is nipping at his toes.

"I look back at myself and my past experiences and I think I do much better when the weather is cold because you have to concentrate more," he said. "You have to focus on everything you do and make sure you are ready when you need to be.

"I like the hot weather for relaxing in but, for playing football, the cold isn't that bad!"

It's a theory that has been tested severely in recent weeks as The Saddlers were forced to play in truly horrendous conditions at both Yeovil and Bristol. Those rain-lashed stadiums were a million miles away from the sunny climes of Trinidad but, even in such arctic conditions, Ince was a more-than-dependable last line of defence.

With 15 clean-sheets to his name already this season, the former Crewe stopper is well on his way to reaching his target of 20 shut-outs before the end of the campaign.

"It's a pleasing statistic," he added. "I've said before that, like strikers set goal targets, 'keepers set clean-sheets targets. I'm on my way to getting to the figure I'm looking at but that's not just down to me it's down to the entire team.

"I don't look at that figure and think 'I've done enough'. I want to push myself and the manager wants to push the team forward. We are all pushing each other and that is a big reason why we are where we are."

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