Players’ commitment delights boss Ellison
RUNCORN LINNETS kicked-off their pre-season campaign with a comfortable 6-1 victory over Conwy Borough on Saturday.
Boss Michael Ellison used the opportunity to have a look at one or two players on trial at the Millbank Linnets Stadium and also had a chance to gauge the fitness levels of his current squad.
The eye-catching result in North Wales was testament to how well training has been going so far, insisted Ellison, and the manager says he has been impressed with the commitment shown from his players.
“We got everyone sorted and back into training nice and early which was great,” said Ellison.
“The commitment shown from the lads has been really pleasing and I’ve been impressed with their hard work so far. We have been training for a couple of weeks now.
“We had our first game on Saturday against Conwy Borough and the emphasis was on fitness.
“A lot of the players have done their own stuff throughout the summer and were in pretty good shape so that’s encouraging.
“I’ve been impressed with the workrate and effort. We were obviously just looking at our fitness but we also played around with some new systems.
“We also had a few lads that we looked at the other night and hopefully over the next couple of weeks we can announce some new players.”
Linnets went on social media last week to announce no less than 16 players had signed contract extensions with the club.
Among them was skipper Kyle Hamid and last season’s Player of the Year Aaron Morris. There were also new contracts for senior trio Chris Lawton, Paul Shanley and Mark Houghton plus more.
No new signings have yet to be confirmed but Ellison revealed he hopes to ● get some more players signed on within the next couple of weeks and there are a few names already on the radar.
“We have a midfielder and a forward that we’re keen on at the moment and we’ve had a look at a few players,” continued Linnets’ manager.
“Some of them played on Saturday but we won’t get anyone signed up until we’ve had a look at them in games and seen where they’re at.
“At the start of the season we know we’ll be a little short with players still away and a few suspensions rolling over so maybe we need to strengthen up top but I like players who can fill in at different positions.
“We already have a great squad of players and a lot of them can be flexible and versatile. I like having that.”
As well as strengthening the squad, Ellison has already started to lay down expectations for the upcoming season.
He expects an even tougher campaign but after competing for the title last year, Linnets will be hoping to gain promotion and they have organised some testing friendlies to help them get in shape.
“We have to aim high next season. All the fans will be expecting big things. The teams who have come up have got experienced sides so it’ll be a hard League again,” said Ellison.
“Our aim is the same as it has been for the last few seasons and that is to get promoted – that’s easier said than done, though!
“There will definitely be some good local derbies next season. Runcorn Town had a really good squad last year and they’ll be up there again. Bootle will also be there again I’d expect and Northwich Victoria will have a good team dropping down into the League.
“We start to hear who has signed for which teams in the next few weeks too, and that will give an indication as to which teams we need to keep an eye on.
“We’ll be keeping busy and pushing ourselves by playing teams in higher Leagues. I think it’s always helpful to play experienced sides in pre-season.
“Our next game is against Witton Albion on Saturday before we host Marine on Tuesday evening in another home fixture.
“We’ll also play Middlewich, Skelmersdale and Prescot Cables before the season starts so we’re keeping busy!” ● Runcorn Linnets Supporters Club’s annual general meeting will be held at the Union Tavern pub next Wednesday – July 19 – starting at 7.30pm. ●