Elliott looks to bring in fresh faces as five depart Boston United

Former Lincoln City and Grimsby Town attacker Nathan Arnold has left by mutual consent while defender Jordan Gough has moved to Tamworth.

Keeper Dylan Parkin has extended his spell at Cleethorpes Town until the end of the season, while loanees Yusifu Ceesay and Ahkeem Rose have ended their loans and returned to Blackpool and Grimsby Town respectively.

However, fellow Mariner Max Wright has agreed to stay on loan at the Jakemans Stadium for a further month.

“Maybe getting three or four bodies out will allow us to bring in two or three,”Elliott told The Standard.

“I’m in talks with a few and have agreed something with one, which will hopefully be sorted this week.

“Some signings haven’t worked out and we’re trying to put that right.”

The arrival of 31-year-old Arnold was seen as a major coup in the summer.

And despite being the club’s joint leading scorer with three goals in 10 appearances, Elliott feels the player’s performances haven’t reached the levels he wished for.

“Obviously we’re disappointed it didn’t work out,” the manager said.

“It felt to me that his heart wasn’t in playing in this league or for the club and it came to a head after the FA Cup game (a 2-0 defeat to Peterborough Sports).

“We just had quite an honest conversation after the FA Cup game and I told him what I saw.

“It wasn’t fair to hang him out to dry because of who he is and he agreed to move on. He could’ve stuck around and made things difficult for us, but he chose to leave instead of going through the motions.

“We saw little moments from him but it wasn’r enough. We expected more because of who he is, where he’s been and in terms of his age.”

Gough, 28, has linked up with former Pilgrims manager Dennis Greene at the Lamb Ground after struggling to oust fellow summer arrival Ashley Jackson at left back.

The non-contract player was the subject of a seven-day approach from a club closer to home who were offering regular game time.

“Jordan’s been great with us, really patient and worked really hard,” Elliott added.

“I brought him in as my first choice with Ashley to push him, but Ashley had such a good pre-season and kept his shirt.

“Jordan was unlucky getting that red card (against Kidderminster) when he was in the team and Ashley got back in again.

“He’s too good to be sat on the bench and he’s a left back, which means he doesn’t really come on unless there’s an injury.

“I can understand he wants to be playing every week.”

Nineteen-year-old Parkin remains in the Pilgrims’ plans, but needs regular game time with the Evo-Stik East League Owls following last season as a back-up with Chesterfield.

“He continues to train with us and we still have a recall on him, but he’s 19 years old and young keepers need games,” the manager said.

“He’s at a great club where he can learn a lot.

“We continue to watch him and we’ll assess the situation next year at the end of the season.

“He has a lot of potential and we’re in a position where we can keep him at the club.”

Turning his attention to 19-year-old Rose, who has scored twice in four appearances for United, and Wright, 20, Elliott was upset to lose his loanee striker but delighted that the winger will remain.

He added: “There are two sides to it.

“Ahkeem has gone back to Grimsby. He’s done well but that’s the risk you take with players coming in on loan. I’m really interested to see how he does now.

“Max was the one I wanted. I tried to get him in in the summer.

“I know more about him and I think he’s a very good player.”

Elliott is an admirer of attack-minded Ceesay, 23, but travelling became the major problem for the player who made two appearances for Boston.

“I’m a big fan of his and it’s a shame it didn’t work out as I was interested in seeing how well he would do for us,” he continued.

“When I first spoke to his agent it seemed he would be able to train with us and get to games more easily.

“But he was based in Blackpool when I was led to believe he would be in Birmingham from Thursdays.

“Taking the train from Blackpool to Boston for games was never going to work so we had to end that.”

Boston are without a fixture today due to their FA Cup exit, Elliott opting to watch next week’s opponents Blyth Spartans face Gainsborough Trinity.