BRAINTREE Town manager Brad Quinton feels new signing Joe Ellul can give him the experience that he wants in his table-topping Iron side.

The 28-year-old former East Thurrock player made his debut in Braintree’s 3-0 win at Poole Town last weekend that took Braintree to the summit of the Vanarama National League South standings and he will be set to make his first home appearance on Saturday when Weston Super Mare visit (kick-off 3pm).

That game is followed by another home clash on Tuesday when third-placed Truro City visit for a rearranged league fixture and a third consecutive home game will come the weekend after when either Moneyfields or Cray Wanderers come for an FA Trophy third qualifying round tie.

While Ellul will be cup-tied and unavailable for that Trophy game, Quinton is looking to make good use of his experience after signing him following his departure from Bostik League premier division side Billericay Town.

Quinton said: “Joe took ten to 15 minutes to get up to the pace that we play with at Poole, but I thought he was excellent and he won every header that came his way.

“He was talking to the young boys around him and that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

“He can play in the centre of the defence or I can use him as a holding midfielder if I need him in there.

“We have real depth in the squad now in all positions and he’s another one who has the attributes that I like where he can play in more than one position.

“Joe certainly ticks that box for me.

“It was a move that we needed to get sorted before the Christmas period coming up and he gives us added experience in there.

“You could see that there were three or four challenges that other defenders may not have got anywhere near.

“Like Marc-Anthony (Okoye) and Christian (Frimpong), he is a player who is prepared to throw his body on the line and it’s good to have him with us.”

The game at Poole was won with goals from Dernell Wynter, Mahrez Bettache and Billy Crook and Quinton felt it was a deserved victory that took his team back to the top of the table.

“The boys played really well and worked very hard,” he added.

“Poole tried to contain us in the first half and hit us on the break, so we had to be patient.

“We spoke at half-time to the boys about that and told them to keep wearing them down as we knew that it would come and it did.

“I know we were facing ten men, but our patience paid off and we came out of the traps with real pace in the second half.

“We scored some good goals and it’s good to see goals coming from all areas.

“Karl (Oliyide) has been scoring, Dernell (Wynter) now has two in the last two, Marcel (Barrington) has a couple and we’ve got Samir (Bihmoutine) who has a number of assists to his name.

“We have goals and creativity coming from all areas and that’s great.

“The boys are listening to what we’re telling them.

“In the last 15 to 20 minutes, our tempo was still excellent and we’ve counted one passage of play where we had 40 to 50 passes completed.

“Things like that wear teams down.

“To have that when you’re already 3-0 ahead and to have players who will do that is good to see and hopefully it’s good to watch.

“The fans we took to Poole were excellent and it was lovely to hear them singing the way they did.

“The boys are buzzing and it’s good to hear the fans are too.

“It’s great to be back at the top, but we know it’s a long run and there’s still a long way to go.

“But I’m pleased with the boys and how they’ve got us there and how they are performing.”

Quinton is hoping to have Luke Allen back for the visit of Weston Super Mare on Saturday after an ankle ligament problem, while Jon Muleba has had a scan on his knee this week after it has been a problem for him in recent weeks and the club are awaiting the results from that.