United boss Mark Robins provided his assessment after the 1-1 home FA Cup second round draw against Worcester.
Paddy Madden had put the Iron on course for victory, yet the Conference North outfit Worcester City had other ideas, levelling the scores in the first minute of the second half via a Daniel Nti strike.However, Scunthorpe will feature as ball 48 in the third round draw held at The Deep in Hull on Monday evening, but they’ll have to share it with Worcester, with the sides meeting again at Aggborough later next week.
“We weren’t good enough,” he said, speaking following the game.
“I thought we were lacklustre, we weren’t direct and we weren’t as good as we’ve been. We weren’t anywhere near fluid, but then again I’ve got three or four players out and those players make a difference to us. There were opportunities for some who have not had opportunities so far and that’s a benefit for them because we’ve managed to get some minutes into them.
“We’re still in the hat, which is a positive. We’ve got to go down to Kidderminster to replay this game and there will be more work to do.
“We need to work harder than we did today, I thought it was a typical FA Cup tie. You can get drawn into playing that way and I think the referee contributed to that and got carried along with it – the emotion of the day, the build up to the game because the BBC do such a great job of making it a big thing for the lower leagues club."
He added: “I’ve looked at some of the other results and Barnsley have drawn with Chester and Cheltenham have been beaten. We’re grateful to still be in the hat, we’ve got another game and another chance.”
United lost Gary McSheffrey to a facial injury, with his replacement Jennison Myrie-Williams replaced at half time also through injury. With harsh tackles flying in, it was always inevitable, with Robins also stating that enforced changes had somewhat stemmed the flow of performances that they’d been used to in the last month.
“We didn’t score enough goals or create enough chances,” he continued.
“We were three or four players down and they incurred one of two injuries which made another significant difference to us. When you’ve lost those players it’s going to affect any team, regardless of the opposition in trying to get rhythm.
“Obviously this was a break in the rhythm today. This is extra. The FA Cup is extra and we try and go as far as we possibly can do. The bread and butter is where we have to try and make things better at home and pick up results at home."
He added: “We’re not going to make too big a thing about it because we are a capable side.”
See much more from Mark Robins and Sean McAllister on The Iron Player.