Iron midfielder Josh Morris is delighted to be back out there playing again, following almost six weeks out with a broken jaw sustained back in October against Peterborough.
He will now be looking to help the Iron progress to the third round of the FA Cup with a win against Shrewsbury.
The 27-year-old made his comeback in the 2-0 defeat against Southend at Roots Hall on Tuesday night. Although he was happy to play the full 90 minutes, he was disappointed with the outcome of the match - during which he had to play a lot of the match at left-back following the dismissal of James Perch for two yellow cards.
Morris spoke to iFollow Iron and said: “It’s been a long time that I’ve been out for, about six weeks, so it was definitely nice to get back out there on Tuesday, although it was a shame about the result.
“I didn’t think it was a red card myself after looking back on it, but it was just one of those unfortunate things that went against us. It was a tough night for us.
“We managed to create a few chances, but we need to do a lot more and keep improving on certain areas. It’s now up to us on Sunday to bounce back and put a good performance in.”
Having got vital minutes back under his belt on Tuesday, Morris hopes that he can now start to kick on once again and provide for his teammates as Scunthorpe look to push up the league table as well as progress in the FA Cup.
He went on to say: “I’ve had an operation on my jaw where they put a metal plate in it. I was in a bad way and it’s taken a lot of time to get right again, but now it’s starting to feel back to how it was before.
“It could have been a lot worse, but it was a very painful injury and it was a bit of freak accident really. It’s been a frustrating one. However, it’s one of those things in football and I just want to get back to assisting and scoring for the team.
“It’s still a bit weird, but it’s nice to get out there playing again."
It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for the Iron after suffering back-to-back defeats against Portsmouth and Southend respectively. However, the attacker is confident that the team can bounce back with a win this weekend in the cup and build the momentum again.
He stated: “If the team can do well in the cup and get a good run going, it can then boil over into the league games and it’ll be a big confidence boost. If we can make that happen, then we can definitely push on.”
Scunthorpe have been struggling with injuries of late, and Morris feels that it’s up to those on the pitch to go out there and put on a display for the fans.
He said: “We’re down to the bare bones, so it’s up to the players that are fit. As a team, we’ve got to go out on the pitch and put on the best performance that we can.”
The Iron face fellow League One opposition in the FA Cup in the form of Shrewsbury Town on Sunday, and they will be hoping that they can repeat the success of the result in the league after defeating them 2-0 at Glanford Park back in September.
Morris knows all about the threat that Shrewsbury will bring, and he added: “They’ll be a solid team like they always are. Last year they managed to get all the way to the play-off final and nearly went up, so we know that it’s going to be a tough game."
The FA Cup is one of the most prestigious tournaments in English football and the 27-year-old is excited about the prospect of reaching the milestone third round.
Talking about a cup run and final thoughts, he said: “It’s one that we are going to be taking seriously, to make sure that we can get through to the next round of the competition.
“I hope that we can get through and then maybe we can draw a big team in the next stage.”
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