Kyle Lightbourne would prefer Rai Simons to be playing for Walsall rather than Chesterfield when the sides meet in the Sky Bet League One tomorrow.

Lightbourne, a former Walsall fans’ favourite, recommended Simons for trials at his former club two years ago but the striker opted to join non-League Ilkeston instead having been offered a permanent deal.

Simons attracted the interest of several League sides while at Ilkeston, where he starred for their full-time Academy before forcing his way into their first team.

Although Lightbourne admits he would have loved for another Bermudian to follow in his footsteps and play for Walsall, he is delighted that Simons is forging his own career path at Chesterfield.

“I tried to get Rai to go to Walsall a few years ago and Dean Smith [the Walsall manager] actually rang me about him before he moved to Chesterfield,” Lightbourne said.

“We set up a trial for him but in the end he chose to join Ilkeston because they had something on the table for him — I think that was the deciding factor.

“Rai has ended up at that level anyway and it may prove to be Walsall’s loss. It would have been nice to have seen another Bermudian in a Walsall shirt.”

Simons scored his first professional goal at home to Gillingham last weekend and will be hoping to add to his tally when Chesterfield take on top-of-the-table Walsall at the Banks’s Stadium.

Lightbourne, who once described the 19-year-old as the best Bermudian teenager he had seen, believes opening his scoring account in front of a home crowd will have done wonders for Simons’s confidence.

“I saw Rai’s goal and it was a good finish,” said Lightbourne, who forged one of the most popular strike partnerships in Walsall’s history with Kevin Wilson, Simons’s former manager at Ilkeston.

“It was important for him to get that goal out of the way, especially in front of the home fans, and I’m sure he’s feeling pretty good.

“It certainly should have settled him down, as the longer you don’t score the more it starts playing on your mind.”

Walsall have lost just once this season and will be heavy favourites against Chesterfield who have slipped to sixteenth in the table after last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Gillingham.

Lightbourne worked closely with Smith during his short spells as a striker coach at Walsall in 2011 and again in 2013,

He said he has not been surprised by Walsall’s superb start to the season and enthused about Smith’s man-management skills.

“Walsall have been threatening to do this for a while,” said the former Stoke City striker.

“Dean is an excellent manager and all the players enjoy playing for him because he treats people the right way.

“It looks like he’s found that missing ingredient which has taken Walsall from being a mid-table team to top of the table.

“It will be very interesting to see how Rai gets on against them. Hopefully he puts a goal in and Walsall win!”

Lightbourne believes Simons’s rapid rise is further proof that English clubs look for the attacking creativity and unpredictability that the top Bermudian players seem to possess.

“Players like Rai and Nahki Wells [the Huddersfield Town striker] show that Bermuda has a pedigree of producing centre forwards,” Lightbourne added.

“I think perhaps our players offer a little more creativity and aren’t afraid to try something different.

“That’s what English clubs are looking for: the subtle differences that can change a game and I think Bermudian players offer that.”

Simons’s Bermuda strike partner Wells and his Huddersfield team-mates take on Ipswich Town in the Championship tomorrow.

Wells, 25, has cut a forlorn figure in recent weeks, with the former Bradford City player finding himself out of favour at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Meanwhile, Reggie Lambe’s Mansfield Town will be hoping to continue their good run of form when they face mid-table Bristol Rovers at home tomorrow. Mansfield are fourth in the table, one point off the automatic promotion positions after 12 games.