Scunthorpe United forward Paddy Madden hailed Saturday’s win over a very good Swindon side.
The Irish frontman scored the first of three second-half goals which saw United come from 1-0 down at the break to win 3-1 against Mark Cooper’s high-flying Robins at Glanford Park.Speaking to The Iron Player after the match, Madden told us that he fancies Swindon for automatic promotion and he was delighted to get an emphatic win in Scunthorpe’s third match in seven days.
“To come from behind against a team like that, it’s a fantastic win,” he said.
“It’s a magnificent result against a top side. (At half-time) The gaffer said we needed to attack a bit better and keep compact as a group and break on the counter-attack, which we did brilliantly in the second half. We created a lot of chances and created three good goals.
“Swindon are a footballing side and if you give them the time and space they will keep the ball all day and the smaller pitch probably helped us a bit.
“We locked on well with them, especially in the second half, and once you get in teams faces in this league, the quality is not amazing like it would be in the Championship or Premier League. If you do that you will get the ball back.”
Madden levelled the Iron shortly after the hour, before Canavan doubled their tally less than 15 minutes later and Dutch striker Kevin van Veen made it three when he coolly slotted home his first goal in claret and blue colours.
Madden talked us through his goal before praising his fellow goalscorers: “It came in from the left-hand side, it dropped to Bish (Neal Bishop), he missed it or dummied it for me, and it fell nicely on my chest and I laced it in.
“It was a great header from Naz, which will give his confidence a world of good after coming back from injury and to get the goal so quick it will help him and give him a boost.
“Kevin’s finish was magnificent, he has gone one-on-one and some would have slotted it by the goalkeeper but he had the confidence to chip it magnificently and I am delighted for him.
“As I said, the gaffer told us to be a bit more compact and Swindon couldn’t really break us down and it was up to us forwards to get the goals we needed.”
Next up for United is Chesterfield on Tuesday, as part of a hectic February schedule. It will be the fifth time United have played the Spireites this season, after previously meeting twice in the FA Cup, once in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
Loan ineligibilities, injuries and various other factors have seen Paul Cook’s men face different United outfits in those fixtures, which Madden feels can favour the home team, while stressing how important the strength in depth will be in the coming months.
He added: “It can work in our advantage. You need a settled side to do well in League One, you need a team that is constantly playing. When all the cup games were coming in we had different squads and it was tough to get momentum going but we have plenty of games now to gain momentum with a good settled team.
“We have played Chesterfield quite a bit but every time we have met they have been a good side, like all of them in this league.
“We are going to expect a tough challenge, they got beat on Saturday and will want to put it right. It’s up to us to take confidence from our win to kick on.
“It is really important, everyone needs to be on their toes, everybody is going to be needed to play a part, it is a squad game. The lads not in at the minute have got to keep working hard in training because football changes quickly and your chance can come around like that and you need to take it.”
See much more from Paddy Madden, Kevin van Veen, Tom Hopper and Mark Robins on The Iron Player.