Hakeeb Adelakun provided the winner against Northampton in the Iron’s first-round replay match on Tuesday night.
The 21-year-old scored the only goal in a 1-0 win and did so in spectacular fashion. His strike helped the Iron into the second round of the FA Cup, where they will travel to Doncaster Rovers for a derby tie.
The winger, who has been enjoying a run of form in the team discussed his goal, getting through to the next round and his run of games in an exclusive interview with iFollow Iron.
ON HIS GOAL…
HA: It was a big relief because it was the first one of my season. I’m hoping that they will keep rolling in now. I just kept on getting space so as soon as I got into that position I turned out, got a yard and got the shot away. At first, I doubted the run a little but then I just kept on going. Eventually, I thought ‘I just need to hit this now’ and thankfully it’s gone in.
ON HOW THE GOAL COMPARES TO HIS PAST EFFORTS…
HA: It’s definitely one of the best. It’s probably the best that I’ve hit a ball since I’ve been here. It means a lot for it to help get the win as well. It is a big one for us but we know who our next opponent is now and we’re looking forward to Saturday. We take each game as it comes.
ON HIS EXTENDED RUN IN THE TEAM AFFECTING HIS PERFORMANCES…
HA: It is a big boost. What I want is to be on the starting team sheet but to do that I just need to do what I can to stay in there.
ON EXTENDING HIS RUN OF GAMES…
HA: I think that I have done enough tonight but it’s not up to me. It’s up to the gaffer (Graham Alexander). It doesn’t matter if I’m in the team or not, he will still be helping me, still be pushing me and so I just need to carry on working hard.
"It’s showing but this isn’t the finishing line. I’ve still got loads to do and so I just need to carry on doing what I’m doing, get my head down and work harder."
ON HIS HARD WORK PAYING OFF…
HA: It’s showing but this isn’t the finishing line. I’ve still got loads to do and so I just need to carry on doing what I’m doing, get my head down and work harder.
ON THE GAME…
HA: We prepared for it in training and everyone knew what they were doing. We had a high press on them and I don’t think that they could deal with it. It showed as we were all over them in the first-half. In the second-half they drilled a few balls in and had us on the back foot a little but I don’t think that there was much of a threat.
ON HOLDING ON TO THE RESULT…
HA: We just had to carry on doing what we were doing. The team all knew how we wanted to play.
ON THE IRON’S DOMINANCE OF THE GAME…
HA: We had loads of chances and on another day we would take a few of them and then it’s an easy game to see out. Hopefully the goals have just saved themselves for the weekend.
ON THE CHANCE CREATION IN THE TEAM…
HA: We all know what we’re doing and the way that we play so you can see that the team are playing with one thing on their mind. It’s all paying off at the moment. We’re creating loads of chances.
ON PREPARING FOR NORTHAMPTON AGAIN…
HA: You can see that they changed their team quite a lot. That’s not the same team that we played at their ground. Therefore, we just have to set up our team and prepare how we do. Then we should be able to take the game to them.
ON CONFIDENCE LEVELS GOING INTO THE THIRD NORTHAMPTON GAME WITH A BETTER RECORD…
HA: It’s a boost for all of us. It’s a win that we all needed and wanted and so it was good to get it. We just need to carry on now.
ON THE SECOND ROUND DERBY DAY AGAINST DONCASTER…
HA: It’s the FA Cup where you want to go as far as you can but until then we look forward to the next game.
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