Ellison hails his squad and ‘two new signings’
● MICHAEL ELLISON praised the depth of his squad after they completed back-to-back home victories over Vauxhall Motors and Leek Town last week.
Vauxhall were dispatched 6-1 in the Cheshire Senior Cup preliminary round last Tuesday evening before Kris Holt’s goal proved to be the winner against Leek on Saturday.
With several fringe players being handed starts in the cup win, Ellison said it was important to return to winning ways immediately after defeat to Prescot Cables the week previous.
“Kurt Sherlock and Zac Aley got minutes, Connor McCarthy has just come back and Kieran Nolan from suspension too. All these lads we’ve missed the last couple of weeks through injury or suspension but we’ll need to call on them.
“We’ve got Bobby Evans, who scored, who has been really patient. Opportunities have been few and far between but he got a chance to impress.
“I know they’re good players but the main thing is to get game time. You can train all you want but match fitness is totally different to doing your own stuff.
“That was the main thing against Vauxhall and obviously to progress because after putting so much effort in against Prescot and getting nothing it was tough to take.
“We just wanted to get back on the horse straight away and then we wanted to get more points on the board Saturday.”
Linnets are now one point clear at the top of the Evo-Stik League West Division after their win over Leek and despite a busy run of fixtures – Ellison’s men turn out 10 times between now and New Year’s Day – the boss reckons two current players can have a big impact on the team.
“Zac Aley is like a new signing for us,” Ellison said of the former Blackburn Rovers midfielder, who recently returned to action after more than a year out due to injury.
“He can play in a number of positions. He’s a fit lad, a strong lad. That’ll be like a new signing.
“We’ve also got Mark Houghton, that’s another who is like a new signing.
“If we can get them two back, they’ll be like two new signings anyway. They know the club, they know how I want to play.”
Linnets will hope to continue their excellent start to the campaign when they visit Shropshire outfit Market Drayton Town on Saturday for a league game. The match kicks-off at 3pm.
They are without a midweek game next week.