Scunthorpe United FC

Anton Forrester put Vale ahead before Josh Morris' in-swinging free-kick drew the Iron level just before the break but a second half brace from Alex Jones settled matters.

In between those Jones strikes, Scunthorpe went down to nine men as Jordan Clarke was sent off for a second bookable offence while Kevin van Veen had to be withdrawn through injury after we had made all our substitutions.

The result is United’s first League One loss this season and Alexander admitted it’s a bitter pill to take.

He told The Iron Player HD: “I’m really disappointed for the players because they didn’t deserve that.

“I don’t think they deserved to lose. We weren’t playing as well as we could but they were still doing their level best to pick up a result.

“We were getting the ball back in play quickly, thinking we could get something from the game, and that’s a brilliant attitude to have.

“I loved seeing the effort the players were putting in on such a big pitch. It’s unbelievable to see.

“To leave everything out on the field like that and suffer a 3-1 defeat is a bitter pill to take but we have to take it and move on.”

Some positive news to come out of the fixture was a return to action for both Sam Mantom and Paddy Madden as second half substitutes, both of whom have been side lined recently through injury.

Van Veen did have to leave proceedings however after picking up with looked to be a head injury but Alexander confirmed it’s too early to suggest a potential prognosis at this stage.

“They (Mantom and Madden) only began training with the first team squad again on Thursday,” he continued.

“They trained again on Friday and ended up being available a little bit earlier than expected which was great news.

“We want these good players ready to be selected and adding those to the squad is a boost to the numbers that we’ve got at the moment.

“We’re not sure about him (van Veen) but it looks like a problem in the head or neck area.

“He headed the ball and was down for a few minutes but I haven’t had chance to check on him yet.”

Tuesday’s upcoming Checkatrade Trophy tie gives the team a quick chance to bounce back from the Vale Park setback before a rest from league action next weekend.

The international break will give Alexander’s men time to recover from third tier duties but he insisted full focus before that turns to the midweek cup fixture.

He added: “We’ve got to concentrate on that game first.

“We want to put a performance on in that match on Tuesday and we want to win the game in order to get into that habit again.

“We had to play 120 minutes last Tuesday against a top Championship team and then played here and ending with nine men took its toll on us.

“They’ve got great mentality though, a great approach to their recovery and how they get themselves ready.

“We need to make sure we’re ready for Tuesday and then think about anything else after that.”