United manager Mark Robins has labelled the 2-1 Boxing Day victory over Rochdale as the “ideal Christmas present”.
Loanee Liam O’Neil put the Iron ahead before Matty Done drew the visitors level but Paddy Madden’s 77th minute winner secured a crucial victory.And the boss expressed his delight after the game at the fact that Scunthorpe were able to pick up another three points.
He told The Iron Player: “It’s an ideal Christmas present.
“We were a little bit lacklustre in the first-half although having said that, I thought we bossed it.
“We created one or two openings without being clinical and we got into good areas but we weren’t clinical enough.
“The work rate was there again. They worked their socks off and we spoke at half-time about having a bit more urgency and a bit more quality and they delivered that twice in the second-half.
“The effort was there to see but it was a tough game against one of the top sides so I’m pleased and I thought the outcome was just.”
The Glanford Park success means United are now unbeaten in their last nine games, with just one defeat since Robins took charge of the team back in mid-October.
And the boss was mostly pleased to see the belief his side showed, particularly given that Dale occupied one of the Play-Off spots pre-game.
“We spoke about belief in the programme notes and it really is about belief,” he continued.
“Sometimes we make poor decisions but that’s the level we’re at, at the moment.
“When we can improve that side of things and we have more time in building and working with the players, they’ll reduce those mistakes and make better choices but it’s always tough when you come up against a top six side.”
The Iron now sit 17th in the League One table, four points clear of the divisional drop zone with one more game remaining in 2014.
And Robins took extra satisfaction from the way his side recovered from being pegged back to go and score that all important winning goal against a team he was more than wary of.
He added: “Keith Hill (Rochdale’s manager) always does really well with his teams and they’re an adventurous side but we knew that.
“We got caught out from our own corner for their goal and we didn’t get back in behind the ball like we had done previously to that.
“But I think I’m nitpicking in terms of that because they can hurt teams and they have hurt teams so to keep our heads and to go and get the winner was really pleasing.”
See much more from Mark Robins, Paddy Madden and Liam O'Neil on The Iron Player.