Iron boss Graham Alexander described his players as “superb” following the 2-0 victory away at Peterborough United.
Goals either side of the break from Kevin van Veen and Neal Bishop secured all three points for Scunthorpe, to preserve the team’s six point buffer at the League One summit.Visibly delighted with the ABEX Stadium success, Alexander told The Iron PlayerHD: “The players were superb.
“I thought we started the game really well, we pressed Peterborough at every opportunity and then when we got the ball, we passed it really well and crisply.
“We got that goal to go 1-0 up and knew in the second-half they were going to come back at us.
“They made two substitutions at half-time and changed things but I thought we adapted to that and we were just looking for a second goal to give us the cushion we needed.
“It came late on and we had to weather a few attacks from Peterborough but overall we deserved to win the game and to a man, every single one of them put everything into it.”
The deadlock was broken midway through the opening period, as van Veen planted home a firm header before Bishop’s close range finish settled matters with a few minutes to go.
Full of praise for the efforts of both scorers on the night, Alexander went on to stress he simply couldn’t take anything away from the squad as a whole.
“It (the first goal) was fantastic, great play and something we have been talking about and working on to get players in those sort of positions,” the boss continued.
“Kev likes the 25 yarders and we have to kick him up the backside sometimes to get him in those sort of positions but it was a fantastic cross in and a textbook header.
“We know what Kev’s got. He always looks like he’s going to score and for a lad of his size, he could possibly score more headers so hopefully this will encourage him to do that.
“I thought we bossed the game in the first-half and you need to score when you’re on top, which we did but you know you’re only one set piece or one slip up from an equaliser.
“It was important we defended as well as we did because Peterborough have got a good team.
“The second was a bit of a messy one but sometimes you’ve just got to put your body on the line and Bish certainly did that. It topped off a fantastic performance from him.
“I can’t take anything away from my players; to win 2-0 is a fantastic result.”
Another plus point coming away from the fixture was the clean sheet but one slight down note was the injury picked up by captain Stephen Dawson.
Alexander stated however that it is currently too early to know the full extent of its severity.
He added: “Every single one of them had to defend and we pressed the life out of Peterborough. They were never comfortable on the ball.
“To get another clean sheet is also great because it’s an important part of our work.
“He’s (Dawson) gone over on his ankle and turned it so was unable to carry on unfortunately which for a tough lad like Daws is disturbing.
“Hopefully it’s nothing too major, the physios can do their magic and get him back on the pitch.
“It’s difficult to assess straight away so we’ll give it 48 hours or so to see how he is.”
See much more from Graham Alexander, Kevin van Veen and Neal Bishop on The Iron PlayerHD.
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