Iron manager Graham Alexander has spoken of his pride after seeing United stage a 2-1 second half fightback against MK Dons.
The team recovered from going behind to Kieran Agard’s 37th minute goal in the opening period as substitute Paddy Madden was at the double to help Scunthorpe claim victory.Full of praise for his squad, Alexander described the performance to The Iron PlayerHD as: “Superb, brilliant.
“We’ve done that (come from behind) on more than one occasion this season. It’s about 95 minutes and keeping your focus when negative things happen in the game.
“We didn’t do that last week but I think the players responded in fantastic fashion and deservedly won the three points.
“The game fired up a few times with some of the incidents but this is English football. It’s competitive and everyone is scrapping for their lives in every inch of the pitch.
“I’m so proud of the players because that’s a really big win for us against an excellent team with excellent players.
“We hadn’t won at home for three games and a little bit of doubt perhaps began to creep in but we’ve dispelled that by producing a superb performance.”
The contest appeared to turn when Alexander introduced strikers Madden and Kevin van Veen around the hour mark, as United immediately went about pressing forward with vigour.
Pleased to see both substitutes contribute towards an eventual success, the boss highlighted the impact players need to have when coming off the bench.
“We know we’ve got goal scorers within the squad – everyone is vital to us but we can only pick 11 players each week,” he continued.
“Whether you start or come on, you have to have an impact on the performance.
“I value every single one of these players. Whether they’re starting or not, everyone has got a part to play to help us be successful.
“Paddy’s a goal scorer so goals are his oxygen and I think he looked really sharp. He looked back to his physical best but he still needs games to get up to his peak condition.
“You can see when he goes out onto the pitch that he’s ready to produce and I know he can score goals – as can many other players in the squad.”
One slight area of concern is the condition of goalkeeper Luke Daniels, who was forced to leave proceedings in the second half after a nasty clash in the area.
Unable to confirm a prognosis just yet, Alexander heaped acclaim on the defensive unit following a thoroughly professional outing from his backline.
He added: “It was a little bit of a late collision but to be fair to their lad, he’s come in and apologised to me and to Luke.
“He just lost his head a little bit but I don’t think he’s a malicious player. Luke was bravely down there, it was a good save and unfortunately he’s been caught but I don’t know his condition at the moment.
“Joe (Anyon) made a great save towards the end and all three subs contributed to that fantastic win.
“I thought the defence were really solid. They were aggressive and back to their best.
“They were really aggressive and in the faces of the opposition.
“You’re going to have to defend well against a team with so many talents in their group and I’m delighted with everybody today.”
See much more from Graham Alexander, Neal Bishop and Murray Wallace on The Iron PlayerHD.
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