United manager Graham Alexander praised his ‘magnificent’ players after the 3-2 win at Blackpool on Boxing Day.
It was Scunthorpe’s first win at Bloomfield Road in 17 years, and the away side got off to a great start when Tom Hopper and Duane Holmes scored in the opening eight minutes.
The hosts pulled one back later in the first-half but Hakeeb Adelakun netted straight after the interval. There was a late Blackpool goal but United held on for their second win in a row.
After the match, Alexander provided his analysis to iFollow Iron.
ON THE WIN…
GA: I was told during the week that Blackpool were our bogey team, but I believe the past belongs in the past. It’s about today and the players were magnificent. We had players playing out of their natural position again but we stuck to the task. We scored two goals early on, which was superb and gave us something to build on. We had to face a big, physical onslaught in the second-half but stood up to it.
ON GOING TWO GOALS AHEAD SO EARLY…
GA: There was a long way to go and you don’t want the team to think the game’s done because one goal gets the opposition back into it, and gets their tails up, which happened, and the home crowd gets their tails up. We came out for the second-half and scored immediately, which gave us that little cushion. We were very good on the attacking side of the game today and when we had to defend, nine times out of ten there was a Scunthorpe player on the end of it. It was a fantastic effort from the players. We need everybody in the situation. There’s not much you can do tactically when the ball is coming into your box from 50-60 yards away at every opportunity. You just have to compete as well as you can, and we did that. The second goal gave them a lifeline towards the end but we deserved to see the game out with the win.
ON LEVI SUTTON STARTING IN PLACE OF FUNSO OJO…
GA: Funso has just come back from a slight hamstring injury, and two games in four days would have been very risky. We know he’s a fit lad and is capable of going onto the pitch and making an impact, and we just felt at 2-1 we had to address one or two things at half-time. We nullified the tactical side of it and then had to compete with the other side. The three points is all that counts.
ON BLACKBURN ROVERS AWAY THIS SATURDAY…
GA: It’s a fantastic fixture to look forward to and we’ll have to recover well after today’s exertions but I know how fit and professional the players are, and we’ll do everything we can to get the points there too. We’re a little bit low on numbers, but the lads are digging in together to make sure we’re as strong as we can be. Everyone’s supporting each other, and that’s the team spirit and togetherness we need.
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