Friday’s match-winner Paddy Madden says that the Boxing Day triumph over Rochdale shows the confidence currently within the Iron squad.
United took the lead through Liam O'Neil before Matty Done levelled the visitors. Madden then netted to seal the victory and it exemplified the positive spirit inside the dressing room.“It was a good three points against a very strong Rochdale side,” Madden told The Iron Player.
“They are flying up near the top of the league, so to beat them on the run they are on, it was a magnificent win.
“We have been on a terrific run since the gaffer came in.
“We’ve only been beaten once under him and that was a late penalty against Notts County, there’s a lot of belief and confidence in the squad and we are taking each game as it comes.
"We’ll try to rack up as many points as we can.”
The visitors had the better start to the match, but the Claret and Blue grew into the contest and the first goal came shortly before the hour through Liam O’Neil. The 24-year-old says Mark Robins’ side were full value for the victory.
“We had good spells and Rochdale had good spells, but at the end of the day we probably deserved the win,” Madden said.
“We took the lead and they hit us on the break and took the goal well.
“We showed good character to dig in and go on to win it. It’s never nice to concede so soon after scoring but they broke well from our corner and it’s a nice finish and we showed good character after.”
Madden was unlucky not to be a scorer at the Coral Windows Stadium last weekend, when a excellent goalkeeping display from Jordan Pickford saw the Irishman denied on several occasions. The Iron eventually found an opening through Hakeeb Adelakun and Madden was pleased to grab a goal again on Friday afternoon, his 13th of the campaign.
“The ‘keeper had a good day at Bradford last week,” he stated.
“You have days when you play against stoppers like that and days when it will not go in and it’s nice to be back on the scoresheet again and it’s another one under the belt.”
He continued: “It’s a quick turnaround in games for us, the manager will have us in on Saturday for a recovery day to get us ready to go to Bramall Lane. It’s going to be tough, it’s a hard place to go and get a result but we are confident at the moment and we can beat anyone.”
The goalscorer also used his post-match interview to credit young midfielder O’Neil, who is on loan from Premier League side West Bromwich Albion. He opened the scoring before assisting Madden for the winner and he was voted on Twitter as the supporters’ man of the match.
“It’s another great signing from the manager to get Liam from West Brom,” Madden added.
“He is a good addition and you can see from his performance today what he brings to the squad.”
See much more from Paddy Madden, Liam O'Neil and Mark Robins on The Iron Player.