Russ Wilcox has praised the atmosphere created by the United fans during Tuesday evening’s game against Reading.
He was speaking as Scunthorpe prepare to face Walsall at Glanford Park on Saturday afternoon,The Iron were eliminated from the Capital One Cup following a 1-0 defeat against the Royals but Wilcox was delighted with the way the supporters got behind the team and is now hoping for more of the same.
And the boss realises that the players have to show the same quality and endeavour seen midweek so the fans can again create a buzz around the stadium.
He told The Iron Player: “We’re hoping the fans will again get behind the team as well as they did on Tuesday.
“But I think that has to come from the players and if the players show the same excitement, quality and endeavour that was seen against Reading then the fans will do that.
“There’s got to be something out there for the fans to enjoy and it was disappointing to lose the game on Tuesday night because we deserved to win.
“It would have got us another tie and some more revenue to help us add to the squad.”
Whilst Wilcox said that nothing was immanent in terms of new arrivals, he did admit that he’s always looking.
United have lost several key players to injury over the last few weeks but the manager stated that the squad won’t dwell on that and will instead get on with things.
“I said to the chairman the other day that if we have to go with what we’ve got then we will, it’s not a problem,” he continued
“I’m not going to go on about injuries. We’ll get on with things.
“We are looking to add as we’ve got the injury to Deon Burton now.
“He’s out for 6-8 weeks at the top end of the pitch so we need to be looking.”
Youth team player Kyle Wootton was brought on to make his professional debut in the cup clash with Nigel Adkins’ side and despite believing that the youngster is one for the future, Wilcox feels that Wootton could be a ready-made replacement for Burton if he is nurtured in the right way.
He added: “It’s was a great opportunity for Kyle Wootton to make his debut the other night.
“That’s why we have the academy – to develop players to play in our first team.
“Kyle is one we’re hoping for long term and I don’t think he’s quite ready at the moment but if we can keep drip feeding him in and give him the opportunities then you never know, we might have a ready-made replacement there for Deon.
“I was pleased to give him his debut. He’s going to float in and out of the squad and we need to push him now.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox, and others, on The Iron Player.