United face a Leicester City XI on Saturday at Glanford Park to round off the pre-season push for form and fitness.
Wideman Gary McSheffrey is expecting a sterner test than that offered by last weekend’s Championship opponents Huddersfield Town, whom the Iron edged out one-nil in an impressive marker for where Russ Wilcox’s men are at, at this stage.“I think Leicester will probably be a bit more ruthless," said the Iron winger.
“They’re good at the top end and they’ve got some quality strikers and a lot of pace in the team so it will be a good test.
“We’ll have to be right at our game and everyone will have to be prepared right from the start and ready for a difficult game.
“Against teams like that, the mistakes you make get punished a lot more. We got away with a couple last weekend. I’m sure Leicester will be a bit more clinical.
“It was a good performance [last weekend], they were a good team and kept the ball pretty well but they didn’t really get in behind us that much so it was good that were solid.
“At the other end, we caused them lots of problems. As people say, it is only pre-season but it does build confidence and it was a good win.”
Weeks of hard work and preparation are almost at an end with the imminent arrival of the League One campaign, starting with Swindon Town at the County Ground next weekend. McSheffrey hailed a successful summer’s work for himself as well as his team-mates.
He stated: “Pre-season’s been alright. We’ve had four or five games, a couple of weeks initially that were quite tough.
“I haven’t missed a game and only missed one training session with a slight knock. Personally, it’s gone alright and as a team not many have missed out.
“Everyone’s settled in fine. The core of the squad has stayed together and everybody knows each other well.
“The three or four additions have settled in fine and they look good players at this level and we’re just looking forward to getting the season going.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox, and others, on The Iron Player.