Iron defender Alex Davey believes his transition from playing under 21’s to men’s football has been a successful one, following an unbeaten start to his Scunthorpe career.
The centre half, who is on loan from Premier League side Chelsea, has played the full 90 minutes in both games since he joined the club.The 1-1 draw with Worcester City was his FA Cup debut whilst his first game with the Iron was the 2-1 away at Barnsley in League One.
Davey was delighted to pick up his first win in first team football and says he has had a lot of good feedback on his performances.
He told The Iron Player: “It was my debut in the professional leagues so it was a massive win for me.
“I personally feel that I’m doing quite well, I think I’ve adapted well from under 21’s to men’s football and I’ve had some good feedback so now I need to keep going forward.
"I think it’s quite a big difference to be fair. You go from playing against 16/17-year-olds to 34-year-olds so there is a massive difference.
"There’s the physical side and also the tempo of the football. I mean, the League One football is a lot harder than the under 21’s football.
"For me personally my aim is just sticking in the team. Sticking in the team, getting games and experience and helping Scunthorpe get up the league.”
The 20-year-old central defender joined Scunthorpe in November, on a loan deal until January 3.
He has joined a side in good form as Mark Robins’ side are currently on a five match unbeaten run, which stretches all the way back to the first game in November.
This weekend sees the Iron take on Crewe Alexandra, who are currently bottom of the League One table.
Davey, who is in line for his third consecutive appearance, has revealed which players in the squad have really helped him settle in his new club.
He said, “Paddy (Madden) has been a great laugh and I’ve had Liam O’Neil who I’ve been staying with but it’s been all the lads really and also the gaffer has made feel really welcome.
“During the games, Miguel (Llera) at the back is always talking to me, telling me where to go and giving me a bit of confidence which is really good. I think he’s a great guy, his experience shows on the pitch and off the pitch he is very professional.
“I thought we were a bit sloppy against Worcester. We had a few chances to win and I think their goal was a bit fluky, maybe they could have nicked a goal towards the end but we defended well.
"It wasn’t the best performance, especially compared to Barnsley. The next game is Crewe and I think we’ll do a good job there.
“If we win we’ll get out of the bottom four which will be another reward for us.
"We can only concentrate on ourselves, in training doing stuff for ourselves and not really concentrating too much on them and putting in a good performance. I think we’ll be tough to beat because we’re got a great team.”
Davey also believes that there being other loan players in the squad has made his arrival a lot easier.
Richard Brindley, Bobby Olejnik, Shaun Brisley, Liam O’Neil and Luke Williams are all on loan at Glanford Park.
The newest of the loan players is Davey and he says he is having a fantastic time since arriving at Glanford Park as he looks to make it three unbeaten games for him and six for the team on Saturday against Crewe.
He said: “It makes me feel a little more comfortable because I’m not just ‘the new lad’ so it’s good. I’ve really enjoyed my first couple of weeks here and they’ve made me feel really welcome. The football has been good, we’ve won and drawn and we haven’t lost yet, so it is all positive.”
See much more from Alex Davey, Miguel Llera and Mark Robins on The Iron Player.