Kevin van Veen made a perfect start to life as a Scunthorpe United player when he made his full debut on Saturday.
The Dutchman coolly bagged United’s third goal to seal a 3-1 win over Swindon and a good all-round performance saw him voted as man of the match by fans on Twitter.Chesterfield were the visitors on Tuesday and we kept a close eye on the Dutchman as he started his second successive game in a front three with Madden and Hopper.
The 23-year-old striker assisted one as he played 82 minutes in the 2-0 win over the Spireites.
He looked lively early on, making a dangerous early run into the box as Madden found space on the right, but the Irishman opted for Hopper, who was at the far post.
The January arrival was then quick to follow up Madden’s shot, but ‘keeper Tommy Lee held it well, before van Veen showed good hold up play, linking up with fellow forward Madden.
He nearly opened the scoring with one of United’s best first-half chances. Hopper crossed it from the left and it fell to the feet of van Veen, who controlled it on the edge of the six-yard box rather than hitting it first time and it gave Chesterfield the chance to clear.
KvV then had an effort on goal as he followed up Madden’s rasping shot, but he was flagged offside before he controlled a ball well in the middle, turned and played a good ball over the top to Evans, who could not quite latch onto it.
Towards the end of the first half, he was isolated as Chesterfield grew into the game. The ball was cleared to the halfway to van Veen, but he was outnumbered by Spireites shirts. The next clearance this time saw him control the ball well, putting Bishop through on the right, who was outpaced by his marker.
City loanee Evans found van Veen after 40 mins and he quickly moved it across to Madden, who put in an early cross before the Dutchman could make ground.
The forward showed his ability on the ball with another good chance. Before half-time, Madden put van Veen through down right, he broke away and came inside and with his weaker foot drilled it low to near post but Lee saved well.
Early in the second half he showed another side of his game - his work rate. He pressed high up the field and closed down his man after a long clearance from United, eventually forcing the Chesterfield defender to clear, earning the Iron a corner out of nothing.
Shortly before the hour, van Veen assisted Canavan for the opening goal. Liam O’Neil put in a great delivery, from the corner, to the near post and KvV flicked it on with his head. It found Canavan at the back post, who headed home for United.
For that assist, he escaped marker Sam Morsy and the Chesterfield captain got his revenge by leaving his foot in on van Veen minutes later, who stayed down injured but ran off his problem.
As the game went on, van Veen continued to show good hold up play, awareness and liveliness on the ball, cutting a 40-yard half-volley across field to Madden. It was accurate but cut out by Sam Hird.
A short time later, van Veen was substituted eight minutes from time, when Kyle Wootton replaced him, leaving the field to a standing ovation from an appreciative home support.