Workington Town youngster Tyllar Mellor is looking forward to going up against some of his former Huddersfield Giants team-mates tomorrow – when the two sides clash in a pre-season friendly at Derwent Park, ko 3pm.

Mellor signed a permanent deal to bring him to Workington in the close season after impressing on loan from the Giants last term.

And he said he can’t wait to test himself against the club where he developed through the ranks.

“I think it will be a fun experience as I’ve never competed against Huddersfield before, I have always played alongside them,” said Mellor. “It will be good to see some familiar faces.

“There will probably be a lot of youth players coming through but most of these lads have been in a full-time system all of this year so they will be feeling ready to go and show what they can do.

“Everyone wants to play at as high a level as they can so this is a big opportunity for them to play against a professional team.

“But it’s also a good opportunity for us to see where we are.”

Mellor admitted it had been an easy decision to join Town on a permanent basis and continue to develop under coach Leon Pryce, after he helped the side in their 2-18 play-off campaign.

“I was at Huddersfield for five years, I started in the second year of scholarships and then went on to the Academy,” he explained.

“But I struggled with injury in my last year of the academy and I could see that it was fading away.

“I had a few options at the end of last season but I enjoyed my time at Town, all the fans and coaches were really easy to get along with so it made it an easy decision to join the club.”

Mellor said an ideal scenario would see Town win their second pre-season friendly and enter the new League One season on a high.

And he admitted that they were key for the part-time side to really gel together.

“These are massive games for us,” he added. “Especially because we are part time, our lads have to hold down a job as well as playing so sometimes it is hard for everyone to train together.

“These matches mean we use our combinations and link up together. We can begin to bond and hopefully take some momentum into the league season.

“It would be good to come away from pre-season with two wins.”

Workington have been backed from several corners to have a good season but Mellor is not getting carried away.

“Looking at the squad, I can see us having a good season but it’s important to take it a game at a time,” he said. “We know where we want to be but we can’t put too much pressure on ourselves. we just need to get some early points and then see where we are.”