It proved to be a frustrating afternoon for the Iron’s loan striker Tom Hopper as he found chances hard to come by against a resilient Oldham defence in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat.
The on-loan Leicester striker scored two at Leyton Orient last week and has managed to find the net four times for the club so far, but was unable to add to his tally.In the early exchanges, Hopper did not see too much of the ball as it was largely Oldham who were on the front foot, enjoying the good spells in possession.
The Scunthorpe front man was also being tightly marked by visiting defender George Elokobi, but the 21-year-old relished the physical battle with the former Wolves man.
The striker tried to hold up the ball and also flick the ball on for his team mates, however they were not always able to get on the end of them.
Hopper found chances hard to come by in the first half, with the Iron struggling to get any service into the on loan striker.
He had a great chance midway through though, just glancing a Jordan Clarke cross wide of the post with visiting ‘keeper Jake Kean stranded.
That was the only real chance that Hopper had in the first half, with opportunities hard to come by for either side.
The second half proved to be a lot more entertaining as both teams came out early on looking to attack and open the scoring.
Hopper was in the thick of the action, putting himself about to try and also attempting to hold the ball up for his team mates, who were getting on the end of his knock downs a lot more frequently.
Another chance fell for the on loan striker just before the hour mark, but Liam O’Neil’s free-kick was slightly behind Hopper and he could only head over the bar.
His movement was causing OIdham problems though and his clever dummy allowed Neal Bishop to have a shot which led to an Iron corner.
Hopper was later replaced by new signing Kevin van Veen with 15 minutes left as Mark Robins opted for some fresh legs to try and grab all three points.
Oldham took the lead with just six minutes left and despite a late rally, the Iron were unable to find a response and slipped to a defeat against Lee Johnson’s side.