United boss Mark Robins is willing to keep experimenting with his new squad in order to find the formula required to turn around the Iron’s season.
Despite picking up their fifth point in three games by securing a 2-2 draw away to Port Vale on Tuesday night, the visitors dropped to the foot of the League One table.A notable tactic deployed at Vale Park by Robins was the inclusion of striker Paddy Madden in a wide position, and the 44-year-old told The Iron Player: “You’ve got a certain number of players out, and a certain number who can play down the middle.
“We’re a little bit top-heavy in that department, but we need to get players on the field who are going to cause problems for the opposition. I thought they did that for the most part, and Paddy has done a slightly different job at this stage.
“He was central on Saturday [against Colchester], and the Saturday before at Gillingham he scored his goal and could have had four or five. He worked his socks off [against Port Vale] without any real chances, with the chances mostly falling to Lyle [Taylor] who’s taken one with a great header.”
Taylor was a near-constant threat for the visitors aside from scoring the crucial equaliser 11 minutes from time, and Robins added: “One’s been blocked on the line, another one’s been saved by the goalkeeper, and we could have been talking about a different game with Lyle having a hat-trick.
“He was running around for the last 10 minutes when he was spent, which is why he came off and Deon [Burton] came on to carry the mantle. Lyle’s been out for a little while as well, so you have to be mindful of the game, and overextending him for Saturday.”
While the likes of Burton and Taylor have returned from injuries in recent times, one player further away from being involved is central defender David Mirfin.
Having picked up a serious injury in pre-season, the 29-year-old is continuing to make steady progress, but Robins warned: “He’s still a way away, and it’s difficult to say because it’s a knee injury.
“It’s one of those where he’s going to have to rehabilitate, and once he starts loading the knee up and doing work on it we’ll have to see how he responds to the workload.”
See much more from Mark Robins, Lyle Taylor and Neal Bishop on The Iron Player.