Brady Stone says he is delighted with the start his Ely City men have made – despite seeing half a dozen of his regular starters sidelined through injury.

he Robins extended their Thurlow Nunn Premier Division unbeaten run to three games last Saturday with a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Walsham le Willows, leaving them sat in eighth place in the league standings after five games.

Ely have experienced just one league defeat this term and Stone has been impressed with the performances of his squad so far – especially considering a handful of first-team players were absent in Saturday’s stalemate with Walsham.

“Having so many players out is difficult but we’ve made a really good start,” Stone said.

“On Saturday we defended well as a team but lacked a bit of quality but that’s because of all the injuries.

“But having players out gives some of the younger lads the opportunity to come in and we’ve got a big squad with a lot of the reserves coming through.

“Jon Brown came on in the second half and played well and Sam Goodge, who we re-signed recently, also did well so there are plenty of options.”

Ely now face two away trips in three days to close out the month – to sides that have experience stuttering starts to their league campaigns.

The Robins go to Stanway Rovers – who have lost four of their opening six matches – on Saturday (3pm) before travelling to Fakenham Town - who sit at the bottom of the standings having lost all six of theirs – on Tuesday (7.45pm), and Stone has challenged his men to add two more matches to their unbeaten run.

“Stanway is always a difficult place to go, so if we can get a point there then win at Fakenham it will make our good start even better,” he said.

“Every point is important at this point in the season. It’s early days but we’ve only lost one game this season and we want this run we’re on to continue as long as possible.”

Ely were due to take on Haverhill Rovers tonight but their tie has been re-arranged following Rovers’ involvement in the FA Cup. The game will now take place on October 24.