United winger Etienne Esajas believes that the Iron were unlucky to go out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy but has stressed that there are plenty of positives to take from the game.
The tie finished 0-0 after 90 minutes which meant that the two teams had to take part in a penalty shootout to determine which side would progress to the second round.Sheffield United’s Sean McGinty scored the winning spot kick to hand the visitors a 5-3 victory but Esajas feels that the squad will take a lot from the game.
He told The Iron Player: “We didn’t deserve to lose but penalties are a bit of a lottery so it could have gone either way.
“We had quite a few chances but I can’t really remember them having a shot on goal so I don’t think we deserved to go out.
“As a team we stood firm and we kept possession really well so there are a lot of positives for us.
“They had more possession than us but we created more chances and we deserved to win.
“We’ll all now focus on Saturday and hopefully we’ll get it right again because we know we’re a good enough team and we all believe in each other.”
Despite losing on penalties, Esajas highlighted the fact that Scunthorpe added to their clean sheet tally in the early part of this season.
And after a short injury lay off at the start of the campaign, the Dutchman is happy to be back into the first team fold.
He continued: “Sheffield United will be right up there in League One this season so to get a 0-0 draw in normal time was a big positive for us.
“The defence held firm, they didn’t give many chances away and we worked hard as a team which we’re very pleased with.
“I’m delighted to be back because I’m not here to watch football, I’m here to play football and hopefully my fitness levels will only increase.
“I felt better than I thought I would so that’s a good sign. I’m training every day and I’m working really hard to get my fitness right because I’ve been out for so long but I’m feeling good.”
The Iron will now refocus on league affairs in the latter stages of this week ahead of an away game at Northampton on Saturday.
Esajas is again hoping to play some part and is confident that the squad can go down Sixfields and pick up a positive result.
He added: “Every game is going to be hard but I think we have a good enough squad to win matches.
“We’ve been playing well and we’ve just been slightly unlucky in the last few games but I’m confident that we’ll get it right.
“I just love playing football and being on the pitch makes me happy so hopefully I’ll feature again on Saturday.
“Sheffield United are a big club so to hold them to a 0-0 draw is a big positive and we’ll take that into Saturday’s game.”
See much more from Brian Laws, Etienne Esajas and Christian Ribeiro.