Iron midfielder Gary McSheffrey is pleased the club have the chance to rectify the weekend defeat to Oldham within just a few days in Tuesday night’s clash against his former club Coventry.
Scunthorpe travel to the Ricoh Arena to face the Sky Blues in the midweek fixture, with Steven Pressley’s side just two points below them in the league table.
McSheffrey says the fixture schedule has suited the Iron this week, giving them the opportunity to immediately recover from the loss against Oldham.
“It’s good that we’ve got a chance to turn things around so quickly,” he said. “Any player will tell you that games coming thick and fast is nice; you’re always out there on the pitch and that’s what everyone wants. We’re all looking forward to it.”
The 32-year-old admitted United weren’t “to our usual standards” in Saturday’s game, labelling it an “indifferent performance”. However, the squad intend to “put things right” on Tuesday night, he says.
McSheffrey started his career at Coventry and went on to play for them over 200 times during two spells at the club. He says he is looking forward to playing against his hometown club, as well as playing back at the Ricoh Arena once again.
He said: “It’ll be nice. I haven’t played there for a while and it’s a great stadium. I’d like to think I gave the club good service so there’s definitely a mutual respect there.”
Scunthorpe manager Mark Robins also spent some time with City, managing them in the 2012/13 campaign. He managed to turn the club into play-off contenders, having arrived at a time when they were near the foot of the table. This was at a time in which McSheffrey was in his second stint at the Sky Blues.
“Mark came in and turned things around. He got us playing really well, similarly to what he’s done here so far,” said McSheffrey.
The Iron have not lost an away league game since October, but they were unable to carry this form into Saturday’s home game against Oldham, a match that finished 1-0 to the Latics. The midfielder puts this down to the success of the visitor’s game plan, which he said did not give them any time on the ball.
“Away from home, the onus is always on our opposition so we can defend well and get them on the break. The past couple of games we’ve got a couple of goals up and dominated the match, whereas Oldham came here and were in our faces straight away,” he said.
McSheffrey has recently worked his way back into the starting line up, having spent a couple of games on the bench. Despite the disappointment of missing the games against the likes of Bristol City and MK Dons, he said he was always determined to return to the starting eleven.
“I was disappointed but with games coming thick and fast you get your opportunity within no time as long as you get your head down and work hard,” he said.
“The manager obviously wanted to bring a bit more strength in depth to the squad, which is what he’s done. You have to fight for your place in most clubs over the country and it’s no different here. It’s good as it keeps everyone on their toes and on the top of their game.”