Iron manager Graham Alexander was pleased to see his side keep up their recent winning run with another success against Swindon Town.
Murray Wallace broke the deadlock early on before substitute Sam Mantom fired home a second and whilst Rohan Ince did pull one back as the clock ticked down, Scunthorpe held firm to record a 2-1 triumph.
Happy with the three point haul, Alexander expressed a feeling of delight post-match following the club’s first ever win at Swindon’s County Ground.
He told The Iron PlayerHD: “We came here for the three points and we got them – we deserved them.
“We’d have liked to have seen out the last five or ten minutes more comfortably but the players came here, did a professional job and got the three points.
“Their goal was a great strike from the lad into the top corner but we’re delighted to get the win and we want to finish the regular season on a high.
“We’ve done really well in recent weeks, the players have shown a real commitment to what we want to do and we’ve won the games when it has mattered.
“We still have some big games coming up but we just need to make sure we do our job next week first of all now and let the fans enjoy what they see.”
It was the perfect start for United as Wallace combined with centre-back partner David Mirfin to score – something the boss has challenged his defensive players to do more often.
Mantom’s instant impact from the bench was praised and Alexander also applauded the whole squad effort in general on an afternoon that saw their impressive April form continue.
“Murray went in for it and it has come back off the goalkeeper and hit him and we should have gone on and added more from there,” he explained.
“It was a fantastic ball in from Mirf so great credit to him and to Murray for putting himself into the position to score.
“That got us off to a good start and we’ve got to be delighted because we’re finishing the regular season on a high.
“We brought Sam on and it was fantastic build-up to the goal but we could have done that more often today.
“We know Sam has great composure when he gets into goal scoring positions and when he came on, he did a great shift, as did all the players.
“They’ve worked really hard today and it takes a whole squad to be successful.
“We’re heading into a vital point of the season and we need competition, we need support from the bench as it’s never just an eleven man game.”
With a play-off spot already secured last Monday, Scunthorpe went into the Swindon clash knowing victory could keep their chances of automatic promotion alive but other results on the day however mean United now mathematically cannot finish in the top two.
Having picked up wins in four consecutive fixtures, Alexander insists the team are in a good place and will head into next week’s Coventry City game looking to build even more momentum before the upcoming two-legged semi-final.
He added: “We know we lost out on that opportunity (for automatic promotion) over that six week period (earlier in 2017) but I’m more than delighted with the response of the players.
“Six wins out of the last eight is a great return from the hole that we thought we were in so I’m delighted with the mentality of the players.
“Before today, we were waiting to see what other results were but now we know it’s in our control to win the games that will bring us success.
“The players have shown a great attitude. We’ve come here and done a professional job and we have to do the same next week.
“We have to focus on our game and make sure we go into it looking to win the match against Coventry as it’s important for us to finish well and keep this momentum.”