Manager Graham Alexander was bitterly disappointed after the 3-0 FA Cup second round defeat at Doncaster Rovers.
The United boss saw his side succumb to a brace from Tommy Rowe and a stoppage time goal from Liam Mandeville, as Scunthorpe failed to hit the heights reached in previous games.
The boss provided his reaction to iFollow Iron after the game.
ON THE RESULT…
GA: It’s a flat day for us. We’re bitterly disappointed with the result first and foremost. From half-time to their second goal, we were the team in the ascendency but that aside we didn’t really play how we play. Sometimes we weren’t allowed to. There were some really strange decisions, especially the first two bookings in the opening ten minutes. I’ve not seen that in a local derby before and it tells us you can’t really compete at the highest level. The whole team look at that and think is that the bar for us? We’re not allowed to just be a split second late? Simon Church’s booking at the end was never a booking, but that’s the way it went for us – right from the first few minutes. I want to focus on what we can control, and we can play better than that. With the way we were playing, that compounded the performance really. It was a disappointing day in the fact that we’ve lost, but the manner of the goals was really disappointing from our perspective because it’s not like us. The players have been fantastic all season in that respect and to concede like that is a blow. It’s been a difficult day for us.
ON THE SPELL IN THE SECOND PERIOD WHEN UNITED WERE ON TOP…
GA: We didn’t show the required quality to produce that goal, but we had the momentum and more control of the game (in that spell). The second goal really took the wind out of our sails because we were on top at that stage and were looking to make attacking substitutions, but then the goal went in. We still made the changes but it wasn’t to be.
ON THE PERFORMANCE…
GA: In all aspects, it was out of character. The players have been fantastic this season, but we know the standards we’ve set as a group and know we’ve been below them today. We have to focus on what we can control and will do that tomorrow. We’ll be looking for a better result on Tuesday. The next game is then (against Leicester City Under-21s in the Checkatrade Trophy) and we want to go out and show we’re a good team. This is a down day for everybody but we’ve had them before and will have them again. It’s important that in between we hit the heights we know we can.
ON FUNSO OJO MISSING OUT…
GA: Funso just picked up a little hamstring injury last week, and hasn’t trained this week so there was no way he could play in today’s game and certainly not Tuesday either. We’ll see how that progresses in the week and whether he can be available for next Saturday. It’s not a severe one but we still have to be cautious with it and make sure he’s as fit as he can be. He’s played a lot of games at a high tempo and a good quality, but we have to make sure he’s 100 per cent fit before we bring him back into the fold.
ON THE AWAY FOLLOWING OF ALMOST 1,900…
GA: It was superb support and that’s part of the disappointment in today – not rewarding that backing with a positive performance and result at our local rivals. We had a similar backing in the league game here and came back with three points. It’s a disappointing game for them but they know we have a good team here and will give the players the support they deserve. They’ve been fantastic with their work rate/approach to games. We’re all disappointed in that changing room but we have to make sure we’re more than determined to bounce back.
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