The Iron kept their seventh clean sheet in eight league games, drawing 0-0 with Gillingham on Tuesday.
An integral part of that defence is skipper Rory McArdle, who hit a milestone during that game as it marked his 400th career league appearance.
He discussed that achievement and how the team will prepare for the high-flyers Shrewsbury Town on Saturday in an interview with iFollow Iron.
ON THE CONFIDENCE DRAWN FROM KEEPING THE CLEAN SHEETS…
RM: That’s ultimately what we are judged for (as defenders). The start that we have had has been good and the clean sheets have been good but we want to be winning games as well. It’s important that we keep clean sheets as it gives us an advantage in winning the game. We aren’t going to take all of the credit but we get paid to keep the ball out of the net and first and foremost that is our job. Now, we want to help turn those draws into wins.
ON GILLINGHAM…
RM: It was a tough test. People probably looked at it on paper and thought that it would be an easy game. They are down at the bottom and so they are going to be fighting to try and get some points. They don’t want to be down at the bottom of the table and they had the change in manager that can sometimes give teams a lift. Some of the players that might not have been playing for whatever reason might come into the team and have a fresh start. That, along with them trying to slow the game down and frustrate us, meant that it would always be a tough night. We got the point though. I’ve played in teams where you go to try and win the game but come away with nothing, which is worse.
ON THE RESULT…
RM: When you go away from home it’s always difficult. You’re not going to be having more than five or six chances so when they come it’s important that you take them. We’re not going to score off every chance but it’s good that we’re getting them. Hopps (Tom Hopper) is getting in areas where he’s dangerous and the main thing for me is that when you look at the goals that we’ve scored there have been all-sorts. The fact that we were getting in good areas and trying to win the game shows the confidence that we’ve got. Sometimes a game can be decided by fine margins and the chances just don’t go in.
"The fact that we were getting in good areas and trying to win the game shows the confidence that we’ve got."
ON PREPARING FOR HIGH-FLYERS SHREWSBURY…
RM: It’s going to be tough and completely different to the Gillingham game. They’re probably going to come out and have a bit more of a go as they’re on a good run. That run will be giving them confidence, as well as having a really good crowd behind them. They will want to keep that momentum going but we want to extend ours as well. We’ll be going into it expecting a tough game and we’ve really got to be on form.
ON THE TRAVELLING SUPPORTERS…
RM: You see on these kinds of trips that it’s not ideal. Coming down to Gillingham on a Tuesday night is hard and you’ve got to give the fans that made that journey a lot of credit. Again, it’ll be more travelling on Saturday but we’ve got to keep spurring them on. Then, they will want to spur us on. When we go to places like this and Shrewsbury having them behind us can be the fine line that gives us the edge to get three points.
ON HIS 400TH LEAGUE APPEARANCE…
RM: I didn’t even realise that, but it’s good. It would have been nice to finish it off with a win but a clean sheet is good from my point of view. Hopefully it’s something that I can keep building on now and I can play a few more games for Scunthorpe United.
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