With the Soccer AM Cup final day upon the side, Futsal Manager Gav Cooper is in buoyant mood, with his side travelling down to London yesterday.
Only Sheffield United (kick-off 12:05pm) separates the Iron's Futsal side from the final of the competition which is held on Sunday afternoon. Should they progress, Scunthorpe will face the winners of the other semi-final - Rochdale or Reading - to decide which team is crowned Soccer AM Cup Champions.
Speaking ahead of the final, Gav spoke of the task ahead facing his side in the Copper Box Arena, which holds 7,500 people: “It will be a new experience for the lads."
“They’ve never really played in front of a large number of people before and they’re expecting over 1,000 people at the Copper Box Arena on Sunday. That may take a little bit of adjusting to, but I don’t think it’ll pose too many issues within our team.
“I think the lads can rise to that challenge and maybe use it as a positive to push them on and hopefully take us through the semi-final; first and foremost.”
In the last round, the Iron had made slow starts in each of their three games, going at least 1-0 down in the process. It's something that the side hadn't endured at all in previous rounds, but they showed good character to turn all but one of their fixtures - and allowing them to ultimately progress. It's something, however, that Gav will be looking to avoid on Sunday.
“The first five minutes will be important and in the last round the lads showed good character to come back after being 1-0 down. Ideally, you don’t want to go 1-0 down in any game. We want to have a better start and that’s one thing we’ve been talking to the lads about.
“We need to start well and get our shape right, along with being disciplined and tough to break down. In the last couple of weeks, in our normal fixtures, we’ve done just that so I’m hopeful that they do that.
“We need to settle in and get on top early on. In the previous rounds in Leeds and Birmingham, we got the first goals and it can change the whole mindset for the rest of the game. The first goal down there will be huge.”