United manager Brian Laws hailed the 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient as ‘vital’.
Scunthorpe beat the O’s at Glanford Park, claiming three precious points and a seasonal double over Orient in the process.
The goals (all netted in the first half) came from Akpo Sodje and Niall Canavan, with Kevin Lisbie notching for the visitors.
“It was a vital win and, to be honest, a must-win match,” Laws told The Iron Player.
“We needed a win to give us confidence going into our next game and to also squeeze a little bit of pressure onto the relegation rivals.
“The results have gone well for us in that manner on Friday, but we also had to grind out this result.
“It’s about heart, commitment, guts and we showed plenty of that to win the game against a Leyton Orient side who are pushing for the play-offs.
“You could see they wanted to win the game. When you play with three strikers your intentions are very clear.
“We knew we had to defend well. At times we got a bit sloppy and caused ourselves a few issues and problems, but Eirik Johansen pulled off a fantastic save in the first half and some match-winning ones in the second.
“He pulled off two great stops in the closing stages and that will give him fantastic confidence.
“The players earned the win because they kept the simple things right.
“We have been trying to play to feet but sometimes you have to play percentage football.
“I felt we did that with a little bit of quality added to it to go into a fantastic two goal lead.
“At half-time I had the team talk in the back of my mind but this is the fourth time this year that we’ve conceded in the last 30 seconds. It’s down to concentration.
“I was disappointed with that but it was about holding our nerve in the second-half.
“Thankfully, we got through the early period and came out in the end having dug deep and thrown bodies on the line.
“Every blade of grass was covered and while the quality of football wasn’t great, there was a lot of heart out there.
“You need to show that if you are to win games.”
See much more from Brian Laws, Michael Collins and Niall Canavan on The Iron Player.