Previewing Tuesday night’s home fixture with AFC Wimbledon, Iron boss Graham Alexander states it’s important his players start on the front foot.
Alexander highlighted the threats which Neal Ardley’s side carry, but the Scunthorpe manager says he has every confidence in the squad he has at his disposal.Speaking to The Iron PlayerHD, Alexander said: “We know of their mentality, their quality and we’re going to have to be ready for it.
“They’ve got good players, and after we beat them down at their place they went on a tremendous run.
“They’ve done brilliant for a team just out of League Two. The spirit of AFC Wimbledon will be there for all to see.
“It’s never an easy game against them but we believe, if we play to our maximum for 90 minutes, we can beat anyone in this division.
“We have to really get our performance right and make sure we’re ready to take the game to them.”
Reflecting on the past two fixtures against Sheffield United and Bristol Rovers respectively, Alexander declared to take two points was a good return.
“They were really tough, and you’d have earmarked both of them at the start of the season as really tough away games,” stated Alexander.
“To have them in the space of a week was a challenge for us, and I was delighted to come out of them unbeaten.
“We of course wanted to win the games - we tried. We know we can play a little better, and we know we can attack with better quality.
“However, the commitment of the players was there for all to see in both games, so we have to marry those up.”
One of the major fitness concerns after Saturday’s encounter was that of defender David Mirfin, who was substituted at the break due to illness.
Alexander revealed the 31-year-old has taken part in training ahead of the Dons’ visit, but confirmed he’ll assess Mirfin’s condition prior to the match.
“He’s trained, and we’re going to see how he is,” he revealed.
“He was okay training, but it’s just how much it took out of him. We’ll see how he is, and make a decision on that when we speak to Mirf.
“There are a couple of niggles and so forth, so we’re looking to see if they’re fit enough to play.”
See much more from Graham Alexander, Craig Davies and Charlie Goode on The Iron PlayerHD.
Tweets by @SUFCOfficial