Neal Bishop believes there isn’t a better way to kickstart a good run than against Sheffield United, as the Iron prepare to take on the Blades at Glanford Park on Saturday.
The Iron haven’t won in five games, but the squad is confident as they take on the play-off hopefuls. The Iron have matched the top teams in the division and Bishop says there is no reason why Scunthorpe can’t do the same again on Saturday.Bishop told The Iron Player: “The five games without a win, there’s nothing we can do about it now, as much as we would like to.
“We can’t change it. I think it would be silly to ignore the results. We will learn what went wrong and why we haven’t had the wins.”
He continued: “Look at Saturday, what better way to kickstart a good run than Sheffield United at Glanford Park. I think they will bring about 2,000. On paper they probably have one of the best squads in the division. It is a fantastic opportunity and a great game you want to be involved in.
“If I can get the start, I can help the lads kick start another good run, because it was only six weeks ago when we were on a fantastic run and we want to get back to that as soon as possible.”
Bishop has identified Sheffield United as a top team in the division, and recognises the big occasion the fixture will bring, but he thinks the Iron can get a result against the Blades.
He stated: “These are the games you want to play. You want to play in front of the big crowds. Sheffield United are a big club and fair play to them, they’ve spent a lot of money this season to try and get out of this division.
“They are having a go at it. They have had a lot of Saturday-Tuesday’s, as have we. They can catch up on you. They are up there on merit.
“At the start of the season, you would think they would be in the top two. I think we are a match for anyone, as you have seen at Bristol City, MK Dons, Chesterfield, they are all up there, and we have given them all good games here. There is no reason why we can’t do the same against Sheffield come Saturday.”
Bishop returned from a two match suspension last Saturday at Crewe, and is eager to be back amongst the team again. He was disappointed with the Crewe match, but he believes there is a lot of characters in the Iron team and plenty who can lead by example.
He said: “It was frustrating with the two game ban. Coming back and watching the first 70 odd minutes on Saturday. The lads did really well at Fleetwood on the Tuesday night. I expected to be on the bench, but it was disappointing how the Crewe game ended up.
“I thought there was nothing in the game, them games if you come home 0-0 you will be happy. But those two quick goals were very disappointing. As a player you’ve got to keep going, at 2-0 down it looked to be game over which it proved to be.
“There are leaders in team and some have played at the top level. A couple of the lads we have on loan are from Premier League clubs. It’s not a dressing room shy of characters or shy of leaders. You don’t need an arm band to lead, there are plenty of lads in there who talk. I try and get out there and lead by example.
He continued by discussing how the team have been working hard during the week to ensure they are harder to beat for the future.
Bishop said: “As a team we need to be harder to score against and harder to beat. We are going out there, if you don’t concede, you don’t lose. I don’t know how many clean-sheets we’ve had but it isn’t a huge amount.
“I think when you are a bad run, you need to go back to basics and there is nothing more basic than keeping a clean-sheet. There is not just the keeper and back four responsible for that. It’s a team game and that is something we have been working on this week.”
See much more from Neal Bishop, Mark Robins and Ned Kelly on The Iron Player.