Captain Rory McArdle is hoping he can use his past experiences to start a cup run with the Iron when they travel to Northampton Town in the FA Cup this weekend.
The central defender also spoke of his delight at being called up for national side Northern Ireland, who will play Switzerland over two games in a World Cup play-off qualifier.
Talking to iFollow Iron, McArdle reacted to his call-up and also previewed the away tie at Northampton.
ON BEING RESTED DURING THE WEEK…
RM: I feel fine (after being on the bench for the Checktrade Trophy group stage clash at Doncaster). The game the other night saw us make a few changes, as it has been in previous rounds. It gives the lads who have not been playing as much a chance to get a bit of game time, show what they can do and try and compete for a shirt for the following game.
ON THE FA CUP…
RM: It’s always nice to have a cup game, especially in the FA Cup and the whole history of it. From my experience, if you can get a positive cup run, it builds that momentum and filters onto the league as well. It is a cup game, but ultimately our main aim is the league.
"From my experience, if you can get a positive cup run, it builds that momentum and filters onto the league as well."
ON HAVING A BREAK FROM THE LEAGUE…
RM: It can be nice to have a break from the league. If you look at how we’ve been performing, especially in the last couple of weeks with the results we’ve got, we'd have liked to try and maintain and keep picking up points, but it’s the FA Cup and everyone’s always looking forward to that. It’s another game that we can go into and keep the momentum going and try and build.
ON NORTHAMPTON TOWN…
RM: I’ve seen bits from them. Obviously, we play them in the league in a couple of weeks as well, so I’ve got one eye on that. They’ve had a few changes since the start of the season and they have had a takeover. They've had quite a few players come in so it’s something we will have one eye on.
ON RECENT RESULTS…
RM: We spoke about trying to get back on the run after three loses. It was quite disappointing to have that, but equally we knew if we got positive result we could build on that. Before you know it, we are back up in the league which is where we want to be. The confidence is there, but even when we had lost a couple the performances were still reasonable and we were still creating chances. We have had to stick at it, be patient and it's paying off at the moment.
ON BEING CALLED UP FOR NORTHERN IRELAND…
RM: I’m delighted. It came as a bit of a surprise, to be honest, but I’ve always maintained that if an opportunity did come to get back into the squad, then it’s something that I would be over the moon with. It’s two massive games, but if you look at the performance levels the lads have had over the last couple of years, it will put everyone in good stead and we’re looking to get two positive results.
ON WORKING HARD AT SCUNTHORPE TO EARN HIS PLACE….
RM: A couple of weeks ago I spoke about it, saying that I was only ever going to get back into that squad by playing well for my club. I will concentrate on the club first. I’ve tried to keep my performance levels high and it shows, that if you stick at it and be patient, you can see what the rewards can be.
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