Midfielder Isaiah Osbourne is pleased with recent performances from the Iron and says the side believe they can push up the table and into the top half.
The 27-year-old, who signed for Scunthorpe in October, has started the last three games having spent some time on the sidelines at the beginning of January.“It’s always good to get back on the pitch,” he told The Iron Player.
“I’m happy with the way things are going with performances and I’ve enjoyed my football since the day I arrived. The boys and the staff have made me feel very welcome.”
Osbourne signed a new deal at Glanford Park previously this month and will now stay until at least the end of the current season. The industrious midfielder says he was relieved to have extended his deal as he can now concentrate on his football.
He said: “When you’ve got something playing on the back of your mind it always affects certain things in your head. Now that’s done I can concentrate on my performances.”
The former Aston Villa man is impressed with the Iron’s recent displays against MK Dons and Bristol City, both of whom occupy second and third place in League One.
He continued: “The performances we’ve given have been good,” he said. “If we were going off performances you could argue that we should be up there: we should not have lost against Bristol City and we were winning until late on against MK Dons. I could definitely see us competing near the top.”
Osbourne went on to say that the play-offs are a realistic aim for United: “You never know in football and we’re currently seven points off the top six. A good run of games could get us up there and the team believe we can get promoted.”
Mark Robins has brought in a variety of new faces in January, all of which have impressed Osbourne, who welcomes the added competition for places.
“When you want a team to push you need competition to get the best out of players. It’s motivating as you know if you slip up, you could lose your place in the side,” he said.
Scunthorpe face Leyton Orient on Saturday, a team who currently find themselves in the relegation zone. Osbourne stated the team’s intentions to extend the Iron’s unbeaten away league run to six this weekend.
He said: “Orient are near the bottom whereas last year they were pushing for promotion so they’ll be keen to put in a good performance. We’ve been told about the unbeaten away run in the league and we’re going to hopefully keep that going on Saturday.”
See much more from Isaiah Osbourne, Marcus Williams and Mark Robins on The Iron Player.