Iron captain and defender Rory McArdle was left feeling frustrated with the final result against high-flying Luton Town, after praising the number of chances Scunthorpe created during the game.
The Iron fell to a 2-0 defeat against the Hatters on Boxing Day afternoon at Glanford Park, despite a promising start, but a goal in each half from Andrew Shinnie and Harry Cornick secured all three points for the visitors.
Speaking to iFollow Iron after the game, McArdle said: “It was disappointing. To lose any football game is frustrating, but during the game as a whole I thought we had some half-decent chances and at times we gave a good account for ourselves.
“Up until them scoring, we could have taken one or two chances of our own and then it could have been a different game.
“However, in the second half, we didn’t create as many clear-cut opportunities, we had some chances in and around the box, but their goalkeeper made some good saves and we didn’t manage to get that all important goal.”
Yasin Ben El-Mhanni had an early chance for Scunthorpe when a Funso Ojo cross from the right found the winger lurking at the back post, but he could only direct his effort over the crossbar.
Lee Novak then also saw an opportunity fly over the bar as he connected with another Ojo cross. Ojo himself then tried his luck from distance, but his shot was well handled by James Shea.
Shortly after, Luton found themselves in the lead after the Iron had dominated the majority of the opening exchanges. Andrew Shinnie fired the Hatters ahead after a square ball picked him out on the edge of the area in the 37th minute.
Then, in the second half, with 51 minutes on the clock, Luton had doubled their advantage when Harry Cornick followed the ball in after an initial good save by Jak Alnwick.
McArdle stated: “It was always going to be a tough game. They (Luton) are on a good run and we just had to stick to our gameplan. It worked at times for us and that showed because they had to change formation during the game as they were creating chances.
“However, when you are up against a team that are high on confidence and are doing well, things go for them and they took their chances today, which proved to be the difference in the end.”
The captain is looking for a good response from his team when Wycombe visit Glanford Park on Saturday.
He went on to say: "It’s definitely important to get a result against Wycombe. It’s another home game for us on Saturday, the matches are coming quickly, and we need to take the positives from today.
“We can take confidence from this going into the Wycombe game because Luton are one of the form teams in the league and at times there wasn’t too much in it between them and us.
“We’ve shown we are a match for any team when we are on it, so I hope we can take that into the weekend.”
Talking about home advantage, McArdle said: “It’s massive. You saw in the first half against Luton how the fans got behind us, and it gave us a lift. It may only be a small thing, but it can have a big effect with the boost it gives everyone.
“I hope we can get the same on Saturday and we can provide that bit of quality that will give everyone something to cheer about.”
Speaking about the challenges he expects from the Chairboys, the captain went on to say: “I’m sure they’ll be a physical side. They will bring high energy, but that’s something we are aware of and we will make sure we are ready for that threat. We’ll go out and look to put our own stamp on things as well.”
The Iron faced Wycombe earlier on in the season at Adams Park back in October and McArdle and his team will be searching for revenge this time around, following the 3-2 defeat.
He said: “We started off really well in that game, playing some good stuff and scoring decent goals.
“However, when they got back into the match, it gave them that lift and it’s important we remember that. We did show we can score against them, so hopefully we can do that again on Saturday.”
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