Iron manager Mark Robins has praised Paddy Madden following the 2-1 Emirates FA Cup first round victory over Southend United at Glanford Park.
Madden scored twice to seal the side’s place in round two after Southend had equalised on the half hour mark through Ryan Leonard.Whilst admitting the tie wasn’t a great spectacle, Robins was delighted to see the team do enough to reach round two.
He told The Iron PlayerHD: “It wasn’t a great game but it was about getting through to the second round and we managed to do it.
“We were much better in the second half than the first and the great bits of quality came from Paddy Madden, putting the ball into the back of the net twice.
“Especially the second one because he’s waited for his chance to shoot and put it right on a postage stamp in the top corner and it takes us through to the next round.
“It was a poor tie played in difficult conditions. The weather wasn’t brilliant but that’s not an excuse for the way we played.
“We’ve got to believe we can go as far as we possibly can and hopefully we can get a decent draw at home (in the next round).
“If we don’t then we’ll face whatever comes and look forward to it but we’ve got to be thankful for Paddy Madden’s quality today.”
The Shrimpers success sees United extend their impressive recent run of results to six wins from the last seven games, whilst also recording their fourth home triumph on the trot.
With the prospect of drawing a team higher up the league ladder in later stages of the competition, Robins emphasised his delight at seeing the team battle through to win the contest.
“I’m delighted because it’s important to get through to the next round,” he continued.
“You want to get through as far as you can in any competition so it’s nice to progress.
“We did enough to win the game so I’m happy with that, I’m happy with Paddy’s finishing and there were one or two other things that weren’t bad.
“I think Darius (Henderson) gave them a hard time when he came on and he’s a real handful.
“He got a kick on his foot but hopefully he’ll be okay as he enabled us to get a little bit of a foothold in the game and get the ball into their final third a bit more often.
“More than anything else, it’s just pleasing to get through.”
On a slightly damper note, the match saw Charlie Goode and Scott Wiseman have to leave the field early through injury and Robins issued a update on both following the final whistle.
He added: “Charlie is fine, he’s just disappointed he’s had to come off with cramp.
“The change that we made with Boycey (Andrew Boyce) going on wasn’t a bad thing because he won his fair share of headers, made a difference in their penalty area and just gave us that bit more energy.
“Scott Wiseman caught his toe in the turf and tweaked a groin. I’m hoping that’s not too bad but I don’t know.
“Lairdy (Scott Laird) also picked up his fifth booking of the season and will miss next week so that’s five or six missing now.
“We get Tommy Rowe back which is good so it’s a bit of food for thought.”
See much more from Mark Robins, Paddy Madden and David Mirfin on The Iron PlayerHD.
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