Going into Tuesday’s match with Sheffield United, manager Mark Robins is expecting a good shift from his players.
That comes following a 3-1 defeat at Rochdale at the weekend, with the United boss calling for his side to emulate the types of performances which saw the Iron beat the likes of Chesterfield and Swindon Town as little as six weeks ago.“We need to put in a decent performance,” he told The Iron Player.
“We’re looking at getting our players ready to go and ready to put in a really good shift.
“The supporters will be there in numbers on Tuesday and right behind us again. They’ve been great. We need to make sure we are doing things right and picking those points up as quickly as we possibly can.
“We’ve got to put the result behind us. It will be an interesting and decent game. They don’t come much bigger or better opponents than Sheffield United.
“They’re a big club and a good club and they’ll be looking to get back into the Championship after a couple of years absence from there.
“Sheffield United will play with a tempo because their crowd demands it.
“They’ll play attacking football where they can do and we have to stop them from getting too many opportunities because we’ve given teams too many.”
The gap between the Iron and the mid-table positions still remains within touching distance if maximum points are taken between now and the weekend – something that the United manager is hoping to achieve to reignite the strong performances that supporters had witnessed since their appointment.
“We are only three or four points away from mid-table,” he stated.
“That’s probably where we are – a mid-table side. But we have to make sure we pick up those points so that we finish as high as we possibly can.
“If we can get a result at Bramall Lane, it will be a big, big result for us. We’ve had things go against us in the last couple of weeks that have been a little bit harsh. We’ve had goals chalked off, we’ve had some injuries that have come to certain influential players such as Neal Bishop.
“All teams go through injuries, but I feel this has been an unprecedented season in terms of injuries for this football club. We’ve got to get on with it and look forward to it.
“The message is to play with belief. There’s no need to fear anything and we need to embrace the experience. I’ve seen what they are capable of doing day-in day-out. They’re capable of being far higher in this division that we currently are.
“We may be under-achieving at this moment of time, but since I’ve come in, they’ve given me as much as they possibly can do. There’s always going to be blips and a period where it’s difficult. We need to stop that run now and turn it into a win. There are ten games left and thirty points to play for.”
He added: “We now need to pick up those points on a more regular basis than we have over the last couple of weeks.”
See much more from Mark Robins and Isaiah Osbourne on The Iron Player.