City of Liverpool manager Michael Ellison is looking to put their pre-season practice into action against Glossop North End on Saturday.
The Purps kick-off their Northern Premier League West campaign with a trip to Stuart Mellish’s side.
Last season for City of Liverpool, they could only settle for two points in both meetings after the pair couldn’t be separated.
During the off-season, they’ve welcomed a host of new faces and cemented the spine within the squad. But the buzz around the club is increasing as they return to Vesty Road.
But Ellison isn’t expecting an easy game, he told Off The Park: “We’re confident going into every game, it’s a tough place to go as we found out last year, they’ve had a good pre-season and on the back of a really good FA Cup win.
“I think it’ll similar to the previous games we’ve played, it’ll be tight, they’re an organised side, they’ll be fit and full of confidence so it’ll be tough.
“If we go there and do what we can do, we’ve got a good chance of winning the game.
“First and foremost, when you’re away from home for most teams it’s be organised, be compact, don’t give anything silly away.
“We went there and created a hatful of chances and conceded off two set-pieces – which is criminal really – so that’s what we’re asking.”
With the defensive quality within Glossop’s ranks, he has offered an inkling into his in thinking for Saturday.
He added: “Don’t give them anything, especially in the early part of the game and if it opens up, we’ve got quality to hurt most teams in the league. We’ll get chances, I’m sure of that, the result depends on whether we take them or not.”
But Ellison is looking for a faster start than last year, he said: “It took a couple of games for us before we got a win last year, we had a couple of draws in there, we played Glossop early on at home and that was the same, a really close game.
“(There was) Not many chances and I think we had a real, real good chance late on, a sitter from Ethan Devine – so we still remember those things, they still haunt me a little bit. It is massive to get off to a good start you want to get off to a good start.
“Every team in the league will be saying the same thing to the players, you want to get those first points on the board, that first win, it gives the lads that confidence and takes that bit of pressure off.
“Without giving too much away, in every pre-season friendly we played this year, and that includes higher opposition, we looked a goal threat,” he concluded discussing the Purps’ danger.
“Probably Marine, the last pre-season friendly, we didn’t look that much of a threat. Lads looked a bit tired, we tried a few different shapes so that’s probably down to me but in most games we’ve looked a threat.
“We’ve got a bit of everything physicality, lads who can get in behind, we’ve got lads with goals in them.
“The message is be solid, compact, give nothing away, defend properly which you know at times you’re going to have to do at Glossop. If we do that, we’ll get opportunities in the game.”
