Iron striker Paddy Madden was pleased to put an ‘unusual’ week behind him by helping guide his side to a 3-0 victory over Gillingham at Priestfield on Saturday.
The Dublin-born forward struck United’s opener in Kent, before Neal Bishop extended the advantage over the 10-man hosts with a 72nd minute header.The away side’s victory was confirmed in injury-time when Madden teed up Gary McSheffrey to end the week on a high following the departure of manager Russ Wilcox and John Schofield on Wednesday, and he told The Iron Player: “It’s nice to get back to winning ways.
“All the lads are buzzing, but we need to kick on now. We got a result against Coventry a few weeks ago and didn’t get a run off that, so we have to make sure we get as many points as we can.
“We deserved our three points today.”
Madden, who was signed by Wilcox from then-Championship outfit Yeovil Town in January, paid tribute to his former boss as he added: “We all have respect for Russ, and Russ was a great manager.
“Obviously things didn’t click, but it did today [Saturday] and we’re happy with the three points. It’s been unusual; for me personally it’s the first time I’ve been at a club when the manager’s been let go.
“It’s new to me, and probably new to a lot of the lads. Daws [Andy Dawson] has come in, got us prepared properly, and all the lads have been professional and got their heads down.”
A notable watching spectator at Gillingham was incoming manager, Mark Robins, but his presence did not serve as a distraction to the Iron squad, as Madden explained: “We’re in a battle at the bottom, so you have to just concentrate on what’s on the pitch.
“By all accounts he was here though, so I’m sure he’ll be happy with the display. It’s a big three points for us, but we have to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves and do a professional job in the next game.
“We just have to concentrate on ourselves.”
Having struck 23 goals for the Glovers in the 2012/2013 League One campaign to end the season as the division’s top-scorer, Madden is eager to add to his tally of six so far this time around, and added: “I scored a goal and got another assist, so hopefully I can keep scoring and keep assisting people.
“My target before the start of the season was 15 to 20, and I’m confident I’ll get that. Once we start performing on the pitch we’ll get more chances.”
See much more from Paddy Madden, Gary McSheffrey, Deon Burton and Andy Dawson on The Iron Player.