Iron manager Russ Wilcox is ready to reward the ‘group effort’ of his squad ahead of Saturday’s season-defining meeting with Exeter City at St James Park.
Following United’s 1-0 victory over Oxford United at Glanford Park on Easter Monday, the Iron head into the game knowing a point will effectively seal a return to League One at the first time of asking following relegation from the division last season.The trip to Devon marks United’s last away venture of the current campaign as they sit on the brink of promotion, and Wilcox told The Iron Player: “We’re going to take the full squad with us, including the young lads as well.
“They’ve all played their part, and that’s really important. Obviously the lads out on loan can’t come, but everyone else who is fit and available will travel to Exeter.
“It’s important we try to finish the job as a group. We’ve spoken about togetherness all season, so that’s the intention for this weekend.
“The whole squad will be here against York too, where hopefully we can celebrate the promotion. I want everybody here, whether they’ve played five minutes or 46 games – it doesn’t really matter.
“If we can do it, it will have been achieved by working hard as a group.”
With only an exceptional set of results now standing between the Iron and League One, some may consider promotion to be something of a foregone conclusion.
That view is not shared by Wilcox in the build-up to United’s clash with the Grecians however, and the 50-year-old added: “It’s another long one, so will be a similar set-up with a 9am leaving time.
“We’ll get there as early as we possibly can to miss the traffic, do some light training, and then prepare for the game as we normally do. I don’t want to change anything; it’s important to keep things balanced and the same within the group.
“Nothing has been achieved yet. We’re not going down there looking for a party. We hope there is one, but there’s a lot of work to be done before that.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox, Sam Slocombe and David Mirfin on The Iron Player.