Mark Robins expressed his delight after seeing his Scunthorpe United side climb out of the bottom four for the first time this season.
It extended the team’s current unbeaten run to six matches and it lifted the Iron to 19th in Sky Bet League One, leapfrogging Leyton Orient and Crawley.“We said that Saturday was the day we could get out of the bottom four,” Robins reflected to The Iron Player post-match.
“We have some young players in the side. I think I am right in saying Miguel (Llera) is the oldest in there at the moment and it’s no surprise he has come up with the winner.
“We need that balance and we also need grafters, nobody epitomised that more than Paddy Madden.”
United took the lead through loan man Luke Williams before Crewe’s Nicky Ajose, on loan from Leeds, levelled the visitors on the half-hour mark. Llera slotted away the winner 13 minutes from time as the Iron held on for the win.
“The three goals were scrappy,” Robins stated.
“The one we conceded could have been avoided but that’s what we are looking at all the time, you make daft mistakes, a wrong decision and experienced players maybe make a misjudgement.
“Then you are looking at graft and effort, you have to have players in the team that graft and put a shift in all the time.”
Goalkeeper Sam Slocombe played an integral part in keeping out Steve Davis’ men in their quest for a second, including a save from Ajose’s second-half free-kick.
Isaiah Osbourne was introduced at the break and his impact delighted his manager, making his first appearance since sustaining a hamstring injury in November.
Robins said: “It was a good save by Sam, he had a steady game for us. Some of his saves were fantastic and his handling was really good.
“Isaiah’s impact was massive.
“The problem we had (in the first half) is we were not getting close to people, we were not getting in their faces and we did not have enough up front and I was disappointed with our energy levels.
“In a game like that you have to win, there’s no two ways about it, you have to win. It’s great to be able to say at the end of it that we have got the three points and that is all that normally matters.
“I have no complaints and in the end we ground out a terrific win.”
See much more from Mark Robins and Miguel Llera on The Iron Player.