Defender Mark Ellis on the Bradford friendly
Defender Mark Ellis gave us his reaction to the Bradford friendly shortly after full time on Saturday afternoon.
“We knew they’d be a good test for us,” he said. “They have a manager who wants them to play football and they can also use the big man up top. They’re a team who can play to their strengths.
“I’ve played against James Hanson a few times and you know what you’re going to get from him. He’s a big battering ram and all you can do is try to read his movement. If you can nick it, do that, but you have to know when to drop off him as well.”
“We were pleased with what we did for a lot of the game, particularly in the first half,” he told us. “We wanted to keep the same thing going after the break but I think we faded off a little bit, which was disappointing. We were disappointed to concede the two goals as well.”
On the positives to take from the day, he said: “We’re all confident enough to feel we can play around teams. The flip side is that we need to make sure we press as a unit if we haven’t got the ball.
“Everyone is happy with themselves and where they're at the moment, and we’re all looking forward to going to Portsmouth. We’ll be going down there to try to upset them. Everyone wants to play in that game and I’m sure there’ll be some disappointed lads when the team is announced.”
Speaking about Saturday’s new central defensive partnership with Macaulay Gillesphey, he said: “He’s a player who can play football. He’s at a massive club and he knows what he’s doing. There was good communication between us and that was vital.
“Whichever pairing is picked it’s a big week for all of us coming up, but I know that everyone in the dressing room will be looking forward to it.”
United PlayerHD subscribers can see an interview with Mark Ellis now. Click HERE to go to the PlayerHD platform. Follow the same link for more information on United PlayerHD, and to subscribe.
Click HERE to see a clip from this interview on our YouTube channel. Follow the same link for more FREE content right from the heart of the club.
