Bradford (Park Avenue) boss Craig Elliott chasing change

The Horsfall outfit collected three points on Elliott’s first home outing last Saturday as they defeated Heaton Stannington 2-0.

And Avenue’s boss is hopeful that a turn in fortune, particularly at home, will go a long way to helping his side achieve their goals.

He said: “I’ve made a big thing about having a strong home record with the players because you won’t be successful if you can’t make your home ground a fortress.

“The players are aware of that, so it was important that we got off to a winning start last weekend against Heaton.

“We need to continue working hard to make sure that we continue in this vein.”

It’s been a stop-start league schedule in recent weeks for Avenue having had several cup games to contest with, but now they are out of the FA Vase after losing 2-1 to Ossett United, Elliott’s side have the chance to build some much-needed league momentum.

In response to whether Avenue’s FA Vase exit was actually a positive, the boss said: “Yes, absolutely. It would have been a long shot for us to win that competition anyway.

“It’s now about us trying to be as successful as we can in the league. We want to try and get into the play-off places as quickly as possible, so that’s our full focus."

Reflecting on the Heaton display, Elliott said: “I think that the players are buying into what I want my teams to look like, which is a team that is on the front foot, presses high and is aggressive.

“We blew them away in the opening 20 minutes with our energy and running, and that’s exactly what I want from my team.

“To keep a clean sheet as well was really important for the group because they haven’t been able to achieve that on a frequent basis in recent times.

“Of course, we dropped off in the second half a little bit, but we still made it hard for them to play through us and that was really pleasing.”

Mark Beevers (white shirt) and the rest of Avenue's defence were strong last Saturday (Image: John Rhodes) Elliott went on to admit that it was the type of performance that the group can build on.

He said: “It’s something that isn’t going to happen overnight (Avenue getting to their best), and I need to be patient with the group.

“However, I need to start seeing things and seeing that the players are buying into what I want from them.

“I saw exactly that last weekend, so we’ve definitely got something to build on.”

Jack Normanton made it two in two following his league debut goal last weekend, with the former Silsden forward making a good early impression since his arrival at the club.

Elliott said: “You want your forwards to score goals. I am still looking at that area to bring in a bit more attacking flair, but Jack has got off to a really positive start.

“He needs to get a bit fitter, but he couldn’t have started much better than getting two in two (goals). Hopefully, he can really push on now and get to double figures soon.”

Jack Normanton wasted no time in scoring on his league debut for Avenue (Image: John Rhodes) Discussing how close the club are to bringing in another attacker, Elliott admitted: “I’ve talked to lots and lots of players, but with where we are at the minute and where we are with the season, you have to be patient. You have to bring in the right profile of player.

“We’re lucky that we’ve got a really strong defence and midfield, but we need to be patient with bringing in the right players in the forward positions.

“Again, it’s not going to happen overnight, but we are nowhere near where I want us to be as a team currently, so we will be looking to constantly evolve.

“Hopefully, week by week, we can get the right players in.”

Reflecting on his opening five weeks in charge so far, Elliott said: “I’m probably a lot different to the previous manager in terms of our coaching styles.

“I have a certain way that I want my team to play, so the first few weeks were about giving everyone a chance to impress. Some fall by the wayside and some stick to the task, and that’s just the nature of a new manager coming in.

“However, it’s not about us standing still because the club has been on a downward spiral for the last few years now and I am determined to turn that around.

“I’ll be working as hard as I can to do that, but players have got to buy into it because I’ve been successful previously in doing so.”

Looking ahead to today’s derby match at Garforth Town, Elliott said: “Derbies bring that added spice but it’s just another game that we want to win.

“We had a good victory last week, but we want to try and build on it.

“We’re ten points behind the leaders currently and my priority is to cut that deficit down as quick as we can.”