JOHNNY Mullins has warned the Oxford United defence to be on their guard against wily striker Kevin Ellison when Morecambe visit the Kassam Stadium today.

The U’s centre back played with the 36-year-old at Rotherham and knows he will use every trick in the book in order to try and get on top.

Ellison scored twice against United last season, in the 1-1 home draw and was the match-winner as Morecambe won 1-0 at the Globe Arena.

Mullins, one of the loudest players in the United side both on and off the pitch, says he has nothing on Ellison, who will spend the game in the ear of his opponents in a bid to catch them off guard.

The U’s defender joked: “I could say we need to keep him quiet, but that’s impossible as he talks so much.

“Kev has me hands down with talking and banter. He is one of the quickest players upstairs I have come across, but he’s a really nice fellow.”

He added: “He is relentless. You could call it sledging, but it’s funny – it’s all part of the game.

“I think he is a bit of a wind-up merchant, I don’t think he’s quite Costa, but he does like a wind-up.

“He’s given a licence to pop up where he wants and he is a danger. But having said that, we have dangers ourselves.”

Mullins expects the U’s to have plenty of possession, but is wary of the threat Morecambe pose on the break, and knows there will be no time to switch off.

“We know their strengths, but it’s a home game and we will be looking to impose oursevles on them,” he said.

“You would hope we would have a lot of possession, so maybe they’ll be looking to catch us on the counter.

“And that means for us defender it’s all about concentration. We need to be at it for the whole game.”

Overall though, Mullins is happy with United's start.

“First would be my ideal place, but we are going along nicely,” he said.

“The thing I like is that we are in a good position and we know there’s more to come.

“The table starts to form after ten to 15 games, but you want to be up there all the time.

“The big thing for me is that the three points is just as important in August and September as April and May.

"You don’t want to be looking back at the end of the season thinking of points you lost early on. They all count.”