BRAINTREE Town defender Joe Ellul says he is playing with a smile on his face again after linking back up with a manager who he admits he shouldn’t have parted company with a couple of seasons ago.

The 28-year-old is working back under Iron boss Brad Quinton, who was his manager when he was at Enfield Town two seasons ago, and couldn’t be happier after moving from Bostik League premier division side Billericay Town.

He made his third appearance for Braintree in their 1-1 draw with Truro City on Tuesday and while he will be cup tied for the Iron’s FA Trophy tie on Saturday - having already played in the competition for Billericay - Ellul will be cheering on his new team-mates.

He said the style of football that Quinton is asking his team to play is one that he likes and is pleased to have made the move to work with a manager who he feels has already progressed hos career.

“I’ve got a smile on my face again and I’m enjoying it being here,” said Ellul.

“The boys have been very welcoming and it’s good being back with Brad.

“I was with him at Enfield, but left there to join Billericay, from where I went to East Thurrock and then back to Billericay. So this is a level I feel comfortable at.

“You have to be switched on as the ball gets moved around a lot more, but I’m glad to be playing the style of football that Brad has us playing and being coached very well.

“He has got me playing that style of football.

“I’m good in the air – a head on a stick basically – so I can head the ball and volley, but with Brad, it’s more than that and he wants you to think before you do something.

“He wants us to pass the ball and move.

“It’s a good style of football and one that he got me into before.

“He progressed me when I played under him before and if I’m honest, I shouldn’t have left him then.

“It’s an intelligent style of football and the boys here play with an intelligence.

“We have a very young squad, but they are intelligent and you see it in training that they work just as hard there as they play in games.

“It’s a very close-knit squad and the boys are very eager to learn.

“That’s what you get from coaches like Brad, Ports (assistant manager Andy Porter) and (coach) Barry (Bolton) is that they try to get you to do things the right way.

“Sometimes we get it wrong, but we will be up there and chasing it.”

Ellul was frustrated that Braintree couldn’t take all three points when they hosted Truro City, but the defender felt they responded well to the setback of falling behind in the first half.

He added: “We’ll take the point, but there’s disappointment that we couldn’t get all three.

“It was a silly mistake that put us behind, but we managed to get ourselves back in the game.

“If the mistake hadn’t happened then I don’t think they would have scored if I’m honest so that’s disappointing.

“The boys responded well after going behind and we looked good going forward, but the game got a bit stretched in the second half.

“I think as the season goes on, though, we’ll learn to control games like that better.

“It was one of those nights, but it’s another point to our tally and it was good to get that on the board after getting beaten at the weekend.

“The only disappointment was that it wasn’t all three.”