For those unaware, Dan Ellison is a centre-back by trade.
However, with the natural goalscoring ability the 19-year-old showed on his Bristol Rovers debut, one would be forgiven for questioning if Ellison usually played further up the field.
The defender scored twice in six minutes against Melksham Town on Friday evening, both well-taken headers from set pieces, to help the Gas secure a 4-2 win at the start of pre-season.
Ellison had established a goalscoring record with Chippenham Town and, having joined Roves this summer, was delighted to make such an early mark.
“I haven’t scored since Boxing Day last season against Bath City so it was really good to come and get two goals today,” he said. “It’s always a good feeling to score. Personally I’m a bit disappointed with a couple of other bits in my game but I’m happy to score twice and help the team.
“It’s been a long journey to get to this point, but it’s been really good. Training in the last week has been a really high standard, and it was good to get a run-out in this game against Melksham Town.
“I don’t think we reached the levels we know we can, but it was really good to be a part of it and I’m really happy to be here.”
Ellison was full of praise for Friday’s opponents, who gave Rovers a tough test.
Matt Taylor’s side had been two goals up courtesy of Isaac Hutchinson and Ollie Dewsbury, only for Town to hit back with two strikes in as many minutes. Ellison’s own double was scored on 70 and 76 minutes.
“It’s a great set-up here,” he continued. “Melksham Town is actually quite local to me and I want to say thank you to Darren Perrin, the Chairman here, who allowed me to do my off-season running here. I’ve played here a lot of times and it’s a good place. It was a competitive game and I enjoyed it.”
With a first week of pre-season under his belt, Ellison is naturally ready for a rest. But even more work will come next week and in the coming weeks as he and his teammates graft to be as ready as possible for the start of the new campaign.
He added: “The first week has been good. It’s been tough too. It’s a completely different environment to what I’m used to but I’ve enjoyed. The lads have been encouraging too. The legs are feeling knackered after the first week, to be honest, but I’m able to recover now ahead of next week.”
