Ellington keen to seize his chance

8:00am Saturday 26th January 2008

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NOT many people connected with Watford were pleased when the club accepted Fulham's bid for Marlon King last week.

In fact, many supporters were outraged. However, Nathan Ellington could have been forgiven for raising a brief smile.

The striker has hardly had a sniff since he arrived from West Bromwich Albion in August amid a huge fanfare and he was starting to look like an expensive back-up striker to Darius Henderson and King.

With Will Hoskins and Steve Kabba also yet to find the net, Watford looked they had parted with the best part of £5m for three strikers who had not mustered a competitive goal between them.

Aidy Boothroyd claimed the arrival of Ellington had spurred King and Henderson onto new heights but the duo scored 38 goals between them in 2005/06 with the unheralded trio of Francino Francis, Theo Robinson and Joel Grant as back up.

The 26-year-old must have started to wonder if he had swapped one substitutes bench for another and was simply destined to become an impact player.

However, King's protracted departure opens the door for him and he could not have timed his first goal for the club on Saturday any better. Ellington still looks extremely rusty - as you would do when you have been limited to cameo appearances from the bench for most of the season - but he showed, perhaps, there is life after King after all.

"That goal has been a long time coming," said the softly spoken striker. "It was a bit of a relief and it will help my confidence a bit. I hope there is more and to come."

Ellington has spent so much time on the bench this season that he could have brought a cushion. But Watford fans will be delighted to hear that the forward, the third highest paid player at the club, is not content just to be among the substitutes and pick up his wages.

"It's always hard being on the bench and no-one is happy with that," he said. "Everbody has got to go through it at some stage of their career. I'm determined not to stay there and get relaxed in that position."

Ellington comes across as a laid back, mild-mannered individual but is he the type to knock on the manager's door and ask why he cannot command a place in the team or, at the very least, why he has been used so sparingly?

"Yes, I am," he said, "but when the time is right. I have done that a few times and that's all I really want to say. Marlon and Hendo have done really well and that's the reason why I wasn't playing.

"It's pretty hard but I'm sure if I was in the team and someone else was out then they would be the same. I'm just itching to get back playing, get some goals and win games. I've kept my head down, I work hard and I'm sure it will come good."

Has spending such a long spell on the periphery of the team affected Ellington's self-belief?

"Sometimes when you are out for a long spell your confidence goes up and down," said the Bradford-born forward.

"You have to be strong, concentrate on your ability and take the chance when you get back in the team. Hopefully, that's what I'll do now."

Ellington clearly has talent. He averaged around a goal every two league games at West Brom, Wigan Athletic and Bristol Rovers, and Watford fans will be hoping he continues that ratio at Vicarage Road providing he is given an extended run in the side.

"It's hard to get a run going but someone like me needs a run of games to get my levels and my form right," he said.

"I've not had a run of games in the last few years and I'm hoping to get that now. I want the chance to show the fans what I can do and what they haven't seen."

It was Ellington's potential that persuaded Watford to shell out an initial £3.25m for his services. Does the price tag, comfortably the most expensive in Watford's history, provide a burden to Ellington?

"Not really," he said. "I went to West Brom for £3m so I don't think about the money I have gone for, I just think about football."

Ellington also dedicates a large chunk of his time to his faith after converting to Islam just over three years ago.

"I just researched into Christianity and Islam and I came to the decision to convert to Islam," he remarked.

"I can't even really explain it. It was something logical for me. You either accept it in your heart or decide you don't want to follow that route. I decided that was the route I wanted to follow.

"Islam has had a really positive influence on football and my life. It's made me a better person and more aware of a purpose in life. It's been very good."

However, even Ellington's patience, restraint and resolve would have been tested by the poisonous reception he received from the Baggies fans at Vicarage Road in November.

He can, no doubt, expect more of the same over the next two weeks when Wolves, West Brom's arch-rivals, comes to town for back-to-back games with the Hornets.

"That just comes with the football and you just have to deal with it," he said. "I couldn't understand why they (the West Brom fans) were so angry with me. When players leave fans get angry, I guess. I just take it on the chin."