GEORGE Elokobi is looking forward to proving his fitness as a Braintree Town player.

The 30-year-old Colchester United centre-half has joined the Iron on a month’s loan and with injuries to Jon Ashton (calf), Jake Goodman (hamstring) and Jack Cowgill (shoulder) hampering manager Hakan Hayrettin’s defensive options, he is a very welcome addition.

He made his debut in a 2-1 Vanarama National League defeat by Boreham Wood and is set to be involved again as they host York City on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Elokobi admitted that the chance to come to Braintree came as a surprise, but after not having not been involved in U’s manager John McGreal’s plans so far this year, he jumped at the chance to join the Iron and is keen to prove he is ready for action.

“The move came as a surprise to me as I went in to train with the (Colchester) lads on Tuesday morning and the director of football Tony Humes told me about the interest from Braintree,” he said.

“He asked if I’d like to come out to get games under my belt and I said straight away that I would. I haven’t been playing and it’s an opportunity for me to get playing and to try to help Braintree Town.

“The game against Boreham Wood has now given me a platform to build from but I’ve been fit pretty much from day one in pre-season. I haven’t missed a day’s training and have been training really hard.

“I’ve done so much running after training; doing things like running 20 box-to-box runs after a hard training session.

“That shows the volume of running I’ve been doing and I know that all I need is games.

“Unfortunately those games haven’t come so when this opportunity came I said yes because there’s only so much running you can do.

“Match fitness is completely different from training fitness and I’m looking forward to getting games now.

“It’s time for me to get them under my belt and hopefully I can help Braintree Town climb the table.”

A calf problem kept Elokobi sidelined at the end of last season, but he has worked hard to get back to full fitness and while the result wasn’t the one he wanted in his debut, he feels he can help the Iron during his time with them.

He added: “I had a calf problem that kept me out for the last two-and-a-half months of last season so I used the summer to make sure everything was right.

“I didn’t go on holiday to make sure I was doing everything to be right for pre-season and that paid off because I haven’t missed a day of training.

“It meant I could come straight in for Braintree and play 90 minutes.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get the result but we’ll get one on Saturday.

“There were lots of positives for us to take even though the goals were a little bit soft.

“We’re getting to know each other and get partnerships at the back, first with Jack (Cowgill) and then Gayley (Ian Gayle), but that’s fine for me.

“I’m an experience pro and I’m used to that.

“I have been in the game a long time, so every little bit of help I can give the boys and pass on will help everyone.

“It’s a team game and you win as a group.

“If I can pass on my knowledge then hopefully we’ll be heading in the right direction.”