Early years and non-League football Saunders began his career at
Charlton Athletic and spent five years in the club's
youth setup up to the age of 15. He spent a year in the
academy at
Fulham, but was unable to win a contract and dropped into
non-League football when he signed for
Southern League Premier Division club
Welling United's youth team in 2000. He moved to the
Isthmian League Premier Division to join
Carshalton Athletic in February 2004 and after being allocated to the newly created
Conference South for the
2004–05 season, the Robins narrowly avoided
relegation during Saunders' solitary full season on the club's the books.
Dagenham & Redbridge Saunders joined
Conference Premier club
Dagenham & Redbridge during the 2005 off-season. Injuries disrupted the start of Saunders'
first season at Dagenham, but following a starting appearance in a 2–1 league win over
Tamworth on 21 January 2006, he became a regular in the first team until the end of the season. He made 29 appearances during the
2005–06 season and scored three goals as Dagenham finished in mid-table. Saunders was a virtual ever-present during the
2006–07 season, making 43 appearances and scoring three goals as Dagenham won the Conference Premier title to secure promotion to the
Football League for the first time in the club's history. which ended in a 2–1 defeat to
Luton Town. He finished the
2007–08 season with 25 appearances and one goal. Saunders began the
2008–09 season in excellent form, with five goals in a seven-match spell. His form won him the
League Two Player of the Month award for April 2009. It was Saunders' final season for the Daggers, in which he made 45 appearances and scored 14 goals. During his four seasons at
Victoria Road, he made 142 appearances and scored 21 goals.
Brentford League One (2009–2012) On 1 July 2009, Saunders and Dagenham & Redbridge teammates
Danny Foster and
Ben Strevens signed for
League One club
Brentford on
free transfers, with Saunders agreeing a three-year contract. Used as a
wide midfield player by manager
Andy Scott, Saunders began the
2009–10 season as a starter, before falling out of favour in October and being used as an impact
substitute. Despite making 30 appearances during the 2009–10 season, Saunders found himself well down the wide-midfield pecking order at the start of
2010–11 and didn't make an appearance until 18 September 2010. After Andy Scott was sacked in February 2011, teammate
Nicky Forster was given the manager's job until the end of the season and immediately reinstated Saunders to the starting line-up. Saunders scored Brentford's first goal in their 2–1 Football League Trophy semi-final second leg win over
Exeter City on 7 February, which sent the Bees to the
2011 Football League Trophy Final at
Wembley Stadium. Under new manager
Uwe Rösler for the
2011–12 season, Saunders went on a goalscoring run in September and October 2011, scoring four goals in six games and helping Brentford to a winning position in each game. a seasonal-best 12 goals and he was also credited with 9
assists.
Challenging for promotion (2012–2014) in 2013. Saunders began the
2012–13 season as a first-choice at the top of a midfield
diamond formation, but he was dropped to the bench in mid-September 2012 and was utilised predominantly as a substitute for the remainder of the season. Saunders appeared in each of Brentford's three end-of-season playoff games as a substitute, He made 44 appearances and scored three goals during the 2012–13 season and signed a new two-year contract in June 2013. Saunders began the
2013–14 season with starting roles in cup games and substitute cameos in the league. An illness suffered by
George Saville brought Saunders into the game as a first-half substitute against
Preston North End on 21 December and late in the second half he capped a fine Brentford performance by scoring the third goal in a 3–0 victory. Saunders was sidelined with
iliotibial band syndrome in mid-January 2014, which required season-ending surgery in February. He recovered sufficiently to be included in the matchday squad for the return match versus Preston North End on 18 April, but was ruled out with a
quadriceps injury.
Championship (2014–2017) Saunders travelled with the Brentford squad to the
IMG Academy in
Florida in July 2014 for a
pre-season training camp and reported that his injured knee was "fine". The knee subsequently became inflamed and he failed to return to full training until 14 October 2014. Saunders made his first competitive appearance for 10 months with a late cameo in a 3–2 victory over
Millwall on 8 November. He failed to appear again until
Boxing Day, Saunders signed a one-year contract extension on 15 January 2015. He finished
2014–15 with just six appearances and spent the final three months of the season away on loan. He made his first appearance of the season as a late substitute for
Konstantin Kerschbaumer in a 3–1 defeat to
Reading on 29 August, He returned to fitness in November and made frequent second-half substitute appearances under interim head coach
Lee Carsley and his replacement
Dean Smith. He scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw with
Leeds United on 26 January 2016 and he signed a new one-year contract 10 days later. but lost his starting place to Konstantin Kerschbaumer later in the month. By mid-January 2017 and having failed to make an appearance for nearly three months, During years with Brentford, Saunders made 206 appearances and scored 30 goals.
Wycombe Wanderers On 27 February 2015, Saunders joined League Two club
Wycombe Wanderers on a one-month loan, which was later extended until the end of the
2014–15 season. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 victory over Luton Town on 24 March 2015. He made 14 appearances and scored two goals during his spell at
Adams Park. Saunders made 27 appearances and two goals during a successful campaign, He signed a new one-year contract on 3 May 2018, Across his two spells at Adams Park, Saunders made 67 appearances and scored six goals. He made six appearances before the end of the season and after rejecting a new contract,
Return to non-League football In November 2019, Saunders began making ad-hoc appearances for
Surrey South Eastern Combination club Richmond & Kew. In early December 2021, he joined Isthmian League South Central Division club
Hanwell Town. Saunders made 19 appearances and scored seven goals during a
2021–22 season which ended with promotion via the end-of-season playoffs. He signed a new one-year contract in May 2022 and made 15 appearances during the
2022–23 season. In June 2023, Saunders transferred to
Combined Counties League First Division club
Langley and made 11 appearances during the
2023–24 season. but made just three early-season appearances. == Coaching career ==