Saturday’s 1-0 away victory over Torquay United left United forward Sam Winnall feeling elated.
The forward is comfortably top of the League 2 scorers’ chart this season with twenty-two goals in all competitions – and it was his penalty on Saturday which secured the points in Devon.The result means that Scunthorpe now sit seven-points clear of fourth-placed Fleetwood, with five games left of the league season.
“It’s a huge win,” he told The Iron Player.
“We know that we weren’t at our best throughout the game, so to go back with the three points is really, really good.
“This was a great time to come and win ugly, in a way.”
Some might have asserted that the result was harsh on Torquay, who missed a host of chances to equalise – including a penalty from Dale Tonge.
They then saw the sharp-looking former-Iron Karl Hawley stretchered off in the second period; before Jayden Stockley was red-carded in the dying moments of stoppage time.
However, Winnall philosophically suggested that luck can often play such a crucial role in football promotion and relegation battles.
Indeed, while United are looking to move out of League 2 and into League 1 next month, Torquay are battling to not leave the league in the opposite direction – and are currently bottom of the table.
“You have to give credit to Torquay in a way, because they really did give us a tough game.”
“When you’re at the top things go for you.
“And, when you’re at the bottom, they tend not to.
“That’s just the way football works, and you look at all the best sides in the world, and sometimes they do come away and win ugly.
“We have proved that we can do that.”
Pressed on United’s record-breaking unbeaten run – which they extended to twenty-five games with the victory – the forward enthusiastically suggested that confidence is the key to their success.
“We’ve got that confidence at the moment," he said.
“We go into every game believing that we can win – and you can’t buy that.
“All the players are in high-spirits, and we think that it’s a massive three points.”
See much more from Sam Winnall, Sam Slocombe and Russ Wilcox on The Iron Player.