Iron midfielder Jamie Ness says manager Graham Alexander has told the players to maintain a positive level of performance, ahead of the final five games of the season.
Ness himself believes it’s crucial to end the campaign strongly, as it will give United a good chance of starting the new season on a positive note.He told The Iron PlayerHD: “The message has been to not drop off. He’s come in and wants to see us and what we can do. We’re all playing, knowing we’re playing for our places and we can’t afford to drop off.
“We want to finish as high as we can, so we need to try and go to win every game. We’ve got some good games coming up, so it’ll be good to see where we’re at, and hopefully we can win the majority of them, and finish in a strong position.
“It’s all about momentum, so we just need to keep that going, carry on until the end of the season, get a good break and be ready to go in pre-season.”
The Scot feels he and his teammates showed a different side to their game during last weekend’s victory over Burton Albion and, for Ness, it was pleasing to see.
“We’ve had the win against Swindon, where we played really well and dominated the game. Against Burton we had to grind it out,” he said.
“Obviously we didn’t feel too under pressure, but they had the better of the second half. However, I think that shows the grit and desire we’ve got in the team, to see it out and get three points.”
Saturday’s trip to Crewe sees the 25-year-old return to where he spent the entire 2014-15 season, and it’s a club which he’s got fond memories of.
He did state though there’ll be no room for sentiment when the Iron visit the Alexandra Stadium, with the midfielder insisting United will be going looking for no less than three points.
“I had a good time there last season, had a good run in the team, and did well. We managed to stay up on the last day of the campaign too,” he added.
“So I’ve got good memories from being there. Obviously it’s unfortunate they’ve gone down this season, but it’ll still be good to see a few old faces.
“They’ve had the pressure of being at the bottom of the table, and now the pressure’s off, which might give them more of a freedom to go and play.
“Which obviously we need to be aware of, but we’ll treat it like any other game and go there and do a professional job, to try and get three points.”
See much more from Jamie Ness, Graham Alexander, David Mirfin and Tom Hopper on The Iron PlayerHD.
Tweets by @SUFCOfficial