Iron manager Graham Alexander expressed a feeling of frustration after seeing his side defeated 3-2 at Gillingham.
Paddy Madden’s fourth minute opener put United ahead before Harry Toffolo doubled the advantage but a trio of penalties from ex-Scunthorpe man Josh Wright handed the hosts all three points.
Naturally disappointed with the outcome, Alexander told The Iron PlayerHD: “Out of the last three games, where we’ve certainly deserved more than we got, that was the toughest one to take.
“It’s extremely hard to take but some things are beyond our control.
“We certainly did enough to win a game of football today and ultimately we haven’t.
"The first feeling after hearing that final whistle blow was dejection and disappointment.”
The early goal from Madden was his ninth of the season and sandwiched in between that and Toffolo’s second-half strike was a series of good chances and relentless Scunthorpe attacking threat.
After seeing his side play so well for large periods of the contest, Alexander stated that is what makes the loss so much harder to digest.
“We cut them open lots of times and made the right passes at the right time,” he continued.
“We worked extremely hard off the ball to make it difficult for them and made angles for each other.
“It was a game that we were cruising along to win but we have to focus on what we did and what we can improve on within the match.
“Up to their first goal, it was the perfect away performance and we couldn’t have been any more comfortable.
“Our opener was fantastic movement and it’s all stuff that we’ve worked on with the players which they’ve pulled off.
“It was put away by Paddy fantastically well after a great assist from Kevin (van Veen) and we had other fantastic opportunities.
“Toff’s goal was a great strike too and we should have scored more goals if anything.”
The fixtures continue to come thick and fast, with a home clash against Rochdale next on the horizon this coming Tuesday.
Despite the Gills setback, United are still well placed to push for a spot in next season’s Championship and Alexander stressed the importance of unity as we enter the business end of the campaign.
He added: “Since before the Fleetwood game, we’ve spoken about performances and apart from the first-half against Charlton, we’ve created chances, dominated possession and played well.
“Unfortunately we’re going through a patch where everything that could fall the wrong side of the line is falling the wrong side of the line.
“We have to keep going, as we have done. On Tuesday (against Charlton) the players were disappointed but they came out against Gillingham and showed no signs of nervousness or any negative side to their game.
“They’ve gone out there, competed exceptionally well and played exceptionally well but unfortunately the result has gone against us.”
See much more from Graham Alexander and Tom Hopper on The Iron PlayerHD.