By Brian Bennett
Marc Ellison says he is ‘more than confident’ that the relegation clouds will move away from the Woodhorn Lane based club come the end of the current campaign.
Ellison – charged with the task of taking over as an interim boss alongside Karl Ross following the departure of previous manager Nick Gray and his assistant Liam McIvor by mutual agreement – was speaking on Saturday lunchtime after the wet weather had once again intervened and led to the Colliers home clash against Emley being called off due to a waterlogged pitch.
Earlier in the week Ashington’s match with Consett was also cancelled.
The Wansbeck side who are already in the drop zone, moved another place down the table after Bishop Auckland’s 2-0 win over Heaton Stannington but as his side prepare to face Bridlington Town on Tuesday night (February 10), Ellison pushed everything to one side to predict that Ashington will retain their status in the East Division of the Pitching In Northern Premier League next season.
The 35 year old said: “The lads seem excited and are looking forward to getting the games on to have a much better experience in the second half of the season. As a management team we’ve been able to get them on the grass at training and change a couple of things. We’ve also been able to talk to them and put over new ideas as to how we want them to play.”
He continued: “I can’t wait for Tuesday (v Bridlington Town). I’m probably not going to play this year whereas Karl (Ross) is the captain and nine times out of ten he’s going to be playing and he is there for me to bounce ideas off. I feel as if I’ve been put in a tumble dryer over the past week. My phone hasn’t stopped and I’ve been thinking about this and that but I’m really looking forward to it because management – as I have already stated – is something which I have thought about. I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into things, seeing where we go and for us to push on.”
Ellison – who is hoping the passionate supporters at Woodhorn Lane will get behind the team – added: “I’m more than confident and quite excited about the end of the season. The lads we have got in the squad are good players who have been about and we have got a really strong spine. With different ideas, they can implement what we are trying to do and change the way we play and I think that will also alter the way teams on the outside look at us as well. If we have a good month and get some results, that will make things easier – but if we don’t, I still reckon we’ve got more than enough in the squad to keep us up.”