Gary McSheffrey says that the team are gutted that they didn’t win their latest game but believes the Iron are still in a good position.
This follows a 2-2 draw with Southend United at Glanford Park - a match where Scunthorpe took a two goal lead in the first half.Matt Sparrow put the Iron ahead early on before Sam Winnall got a faint touch on a McSheffrey free-kick to make it 2-0.
In the second half, the visitors got back into the game after a 40 yard screamer from John Egan and a goal from John White.
“I thought we had a good first half.” McSheffrey told The Iron Player.
“We got a goal early again and backed it up with a second goal.
"Their goalkeeper made a couple of great saves too in the first half, so it could have been a position like Portsmouth the other week, where we could have gone in three or four up.
“They came out second half and took the game to us. They had a lot of quality possession and we weathered the storm for 10-to-15 minutes.
"You think you have seen it through before their centre-half has taken a touch on the halfway line and volleyed it from 40 yards and gone in.”
He added: “It gives them a massive boost and confidence from which they equalised. Can only describe it as a “freak” goal. They’ve crossed it in, it has beaten our goalie, hit the back post and gone in off David Mirfin.
"It’s disappointing. We’re gutted that we didn’t win the game, but apart from them two “freak” goals we would have won the game quite comfortably I think.”
The draw saw the Iron extend the run to 20 games unbeaten which is a club record and McSheffrey says the team should be proud of that and are still in a good position.
He said: “You are disappointed because we were in a winning position. 2-0 up at home, you should win games. Sometimes that happens but we haven’t sat on it and we haven’t chucked it away today.
"They’ve scored two goals that you wouldn’t expect in a game of football. One from a centre-half and one, a cross that has gone in.
“We can’t be too disappointed in that way and can’t have a mental block when we go ahead because that wasn’t face today. We didn’t throw it away but it is 20 games unbeaten now and the lads have got to be proud of that. It’s more or less half a season and we are in a good position.”
He continued: “They started the second half well, for ten or so minutes we were defending everything they threw at us.
"They got a few set pieces and our lads were putting their heads on everything. As we thought we were seeing it through, they score the goal and it changes the game.
“When it was 2-2, we had a couple of opportunities where we could have won the game but as I say before, we are in a good position in the league, and we are unbeaten in 20, it’s nothing to be down about.”
It was McSheffrey’s first game in two weeks and he was pleased to be back out on the pitch and play 90 minutes.
He stated: “It was great to get 90 minutes. I had missed a couple of weeks, two weeks since my last game and haven’t really trained since then. It’s nice just to get on the pitch and it felt quite good. I felt a little tired towards the end but that is to be expected. I will be stronger for Saturday.”
Next up for Scunthorpe is an away trip to Plymouth on Saturday and McSheffrey says it is going to be a tough match, but believes they will prepare to get the three points.
“They are a good team, it is a hard place to go. They’re a big club down there. It is going be tough, we have got a long journey but we are going to be alright," he added.
"We will get there and prepare for the game the night before and go out and look forward to it. Hopefully we will come back with three points.”
See much more from Gary McSheffrey, Russ Wilcox and Matt Sparrow on The Iron Player.