United manager Mark Robins has praised Iron forward Paddy Madden after he fired the Iron to their latest victory.
It was Scunthorpe’s first win at Barnsley’s Oakwell Stadium for over 50 years when it finished 2-1, and Robins complimented the Irishman in his post-match press conference.“Paddy goes out and performs and gets in positions to score goals,” the manager told The Iron Player.
“He could have had five or six goals since I came in and he beats himself up for that.
“He was relaxed on Saturday and when got his first, he picked his confidence up and the second was good enough to win any game.
“He picked up from just inside our half and he’s run half the length of the pitch. Terrific goal.”
Robins also had positive things to say about his new defensive partnership of Miguel Llera and loan signing Alex Davey, who arrived from Chelsea last week.
“Alex Davey was excellent,” he said.
“I thought the two centre halves were really strong and solid. They defended everything that came from the back of Barnsley’s defence and they dealt with the aerial bombardment very well, against good players too - Devante Cole has come on since he’s been here, he looks a real threat, Trotta looks good and so do a lot of players they have got.
“They have a lot of experience and talent and they will bounce back and be a strong squad this year.”
He was disappointed with the way his side conceded before the half-hour mark, but pleased with how they reacted, scoring less than a minute later.
“I can’t remember too much about their goal in all honesty,” he stated.
“They went down the left-hand side and were dangerous because they were making overlapping runs in the wider areas.
“They managed to get a ball in and it was too easy, the defenders dropped onto the line and it was a really good finish. It was a really good goal and he struck it really well.
“Our character showed through, we won the ball and got forward into a dangerous area. Gary McSheffrey came off that right-hand side, put in a decent shot which was deflected and the ‘keeper was unsighted, then Paddy put in the rebound which was great.
“I wouldn’t say we were under the cosh (during the game), it was our plan to be able to defend and I was pleased with what we saw. We were organised and there were some really solid performances today.”
The trip to Oakwell was also a return for Robins, who managed the Reds for just under two seasons, steering them clear of relegation in his first, but that did not matter to the Iron boss: “I won last time with Huddersfield and there’s a few times that I’ve come up against them since I left.”
Robins was forced to make a change seven minutes from time when Lyle Taylor limped off and he admitted he is still waiting to see the extent of his injury. He also explained why new arrival Richard Brindley, on loan from Rotherham, did not feature.
“I have no idea so soon after the game (in regards to Taylor),” Robins added. He’s got a kick and come off and he did a good job of making it look serious but I think he will be okay.
“We had to get bodies in, we needed a right-back and Richard was one I rate, I think he’s a good player.
“He has been out for six weeks and trained with us for a few days and Rotherham for a week or so before that, but we just felt after speaking to him that he needed a little bit more time.
“There’s no point bringing him in and missing the rest of his loan period so hopefully we can get as much out of him as we possibly can do because he’s a good player.
“He can’t play for us in the cup (against Worcester next week) at this moment in time, but they told us to go back and ask the question, which we will do this week.”
See much more from Mark Robins, Paddy Madden and Terry Hawkridge on The Iron Player.