Halifax friendly will give Craig Elliott insight into Boston United's strengths against 'bit of adversity'

Friendly rivals FC Halifax Town will offer Boston United a whole new test, manager Craig Elliott believes.

The Pilgrims will travel to the Shay to face their National League opponents on Saturday (KO 3pm), with Elliott expecting a totally different test to the ones offered by Gainsborough Trinity and Hull City’s under 23s in the club’s latest warm-up contest.

“It’ll be a great game for us,” he said. “We’ve slowly built up the competition.

“It was a good game against Gainsborough. I felt it had a physical edge to it, but Halifax will be a different test against a team in the league above.

"It’ll give us a really good test. We’ve got to be brave on the ball and keep doing what were doing.”

While building up match fitness and attempting to figure out his strongest starting XI may be Elliott’s top priorities in pre-season, he also believes that every different test will help him discover something different about his players’ character.

“It’ll be a lot more physical, I imagine,” he said of the contest against the Shaymen, which will see Jordan Burrow and Scott Garner return to their former club.

“It’s important we learn about the new players, their strengths and how they fit in and look against a bit of adversity.”

Elliott, however, has no complaints from the opening two friendlies.

“We’ve not done too much tactical work yet, but you can see the quality we’ve got,” he said, impressed with how quickly things appear to have come together.

“They’re feeding off each other and naturally gelling, which is great for me.

“We just need to fine tune things over the next few weeks.

“I’m really happy with where we are.

“We’ve got some really good players - experienced players and young lads - who are bringing a lot of quality to the team.”

MORE PILGRIMS: Youngsters a 'breath of fresh air' - ElliottMORE PILGRIMS: Manager believes title race could be more open this season