Scunthorpe United were relegated to League Two on Saturday afternoon, despite an impressive 3-1 success over Swindon Town.
That was because Colchester United, who had to lose in order for Scunthorpe to stand any chance of survival, enjoyed a 2-0 success at Carlisle United.And for Iron midfielder Michael Collins, his team’s relegation was the somewhat inevitable conclusion to a disappointing season.
“Even though we’ve won 3-1, it’s bitter disappointment,” he confessed to The Iron Player.
“Over the course of the forty-six games, we’ve not done enough to safeguard our future in League One.
“Although we’ve done our side of the job, credit to Colchester, because they’ve gone and done what they had to do.
“You can never rely upon other people. And that’s down to us that we’ve had to rely upon other people.
“That should never have been the case.
“This team and this club should never have been in the situation that it’s ended up in.
“And ultimately, we’ve paid the worst possible price.”
Collins was also gutted that United were relegated following back-to-back wins – which ultimately proved too little too late.
The Iron won 3-1 on Saturday; having claimed a 1-0 away win at MK Dons seven days beforehand.
“The disappointing thing is that at this stage of the season, where there was the most pressure, we’ve stepped up to the plate and produced the results.
“It’s the forty-four games prior to that that have cost us.
“That’s where the blame lies – we’ve literally left it too late.
“The Bury performance, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let that go as a low point in my career.
“That could have changed everything.”
“At the start of the season we got no momentum going,” he continued.
“You can’t afford to do that at this level – you’ve got to get as many points on the board as possible.”
Collins then ended his interview by taking the opportunity to praise United’s fans, meanwhile.
While acknowledging that during his time at Glanford Park the club has found itself in something of a decline, he stated that he has never found Scunthorpe’s fans to be anything other than fantastic.
“The fans have been fantastic from minute one until the end today,” he said.
“That speaks volumes for the people of Scunthorpe.
“They’d have had every right to tell us exactly what they thought of us today.
“They came, paid their money and got behind the team.
“But to give us an ovation like that at the end of the game is why it’s made it extra-hard this season not to give them back what they deserve.”
See much more from Brian Laws, Michael Collins and Paul Reid on The Iron Player.