Iron manager Nigel Adkins was pleased to see midfielder Michael O'Connor receive a 70-minute run-out in the 2-0 home pre-season friendly victory over Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

The former Crewe man has missed the past week of pre-season action with a thigh injury but Adkins felt he performed well in the success over Lee Clark's Terriers.

"Michael O'Connor has missed a little bit of pre-season," Adkins told The Iron Player.

"We're trying to get him in a position where he's often on the ball because he's got a wand of a right foot.

"His pass appreciation and the vision he's got can be backed up by a range of passing which will cause problems to teams.

"We played some good passing football on Saturday and Michael played a part in that.

"We're trying to get him in a position where he can do well for us.

"In addition, Sam Togwell captained the team on Saturday and his energy rate was exceptional.

"The way he closed down and got on the football was top drawer."

The win over the Terriers came on the back of a 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday the previous week and, although Adkins was disappointed with the way his side started the game, he was more than happy with their second half superiority over Lee Clark's side.

The boss added: "It's pleasing we've got two good victories against two sides who will challenge for the League One title this season.

"They are two deserved wins as well in my mind.

"We started slowly on Saturday and that's something I'll have to think about.

"I don't think the fact that it was stop-start helped. The pitch was probably not as wet as we would have wanted to have it because we want to play at a high, quick tempo where the ball zips about.

"That wasn't there in the first half. When we review the video footage on Monday with the players it's something we can talk about.

"We want to play at a quick tempo this season. Hopefully for the first home league game of the season against Norwich City there will be a good 8,000-9,000 people here and if the ball does go out of play then it will come back in very quickly, then we can restart and play the game at the high tempo we need to play at, especially at home here at Glanford Park.

"We picked up a lot of points here last season and that's what we've got to do again this year.

"It's going to be a tough, tough season. We're down as favourites for relegation but we're ready for it, we're preparing for it, and we know we have to be together as one to give ourselves an opportunity.

"I think everyone is together as well. The supporters are aware of that. They want to get behind the players.

"Last season there were some difficult times but we all stuck together and kept going, and achieved what we wanted to in the end."