Iron manager Mark Robins praised the desire of his team following their FA Cup Third Round replay defeat at Chesterfield.
Having drawn 2-2 in the original tie, United travelled to Derbyshire on Tuesday night to decide which side would go through to face Derby County in the next round.With the scores level after 90 minutes, the game went to extra-time where the Spireites eventually progressed courtesy of a Sam Clucas brace, but Robins told The Iron Player: “We pushed them as hard as we possibly could and the players gave me everything they’ve got.
“There were some good things in the game and some not so clever things, and we weren’t able to make the changes we needed. I wanted to try and get Kyle [Wootton] on, but Isaiah Osbourne has been ill this week and was dead on his feet.
“Neal Bishop was starting to go, and they all put a lot of effort in. Unfortunately we just came up short, but we move on.
“There’s been a lot of positives in the run, and we’ll look forward to next season’s competition, but it’s a 24-game season we’ve got now.”
United’s defeat leaves them left to focus on their Sky Bet League Two campaign, with high-flying Bristol City next to visit Glanford Park on Saturday.
The clash with the Robins sees the two sides with the best form in the league square off against one another, and the 45-year-old added: “They’re the best team in this division, and we’ll look to see how far we’ve come.
“For me, I know how far we’ve come, which is a hell of a long way. There’s a lot of positivity, and a lot of good things happening in the games.
“We’re fighters and scrappers, and are prepared to fight for the supporters to be as good as we can be. We live to fight another day, and we’ll look forward to Bristol City coming to our place.
“We’ll try to go out there with a game-plan, and look to cause them one or two problems.”
See much more from Mark Robins, Marcus Williams and Isaiah Osbourne on The Iron Player.