Manager Graham Alexander is hoping his side can build on a positive performance and victory when they host Rotherham United this Saturday.
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10 February 2018Scunthorpe come into the clash against their promotion rivals on the back of a 3-2 away success at Fleetwood Town last weekend.
Ahead of the British Steel Day 2018 encounter against the Millers, Alexander spoke to iFollow Iron about team news and more.
ON LAST WEEK’S VICTORY…
GA: We were delighted with the win. The players deserved it and the team was on the front foot, creating a lot of chances. We were really disappointed with how we let Fleetwood back into it just before half-time. That’s something we have to learn from. We won 3-2 but really we should have won by a bigger margin and more comfortably. The three points are more than welcome. We deserved it because we played really well and created a lot of chances on the day. We take the confidence from the result and performance into Saturday’s match.
ON SATURDAY’S GAME…
GA: All our focus is on Rotherham on Saturday. We know it will be a difficult game between two very good teams, who have won a lot of points this season. We both play with a similar mentality of being on the front foot and wanting to get around the other teams. We expect a tough game but have to take confidence from the way we played last week. It should be a good crowd and atmosphere. Rotherham are a big club themselves with a lot of backing and we will respond how we always do to that. We’re looking forward to competing at the level we can - the performance is important and we know the challenge ahead.
ON LUKE WILLIAMS…
GA: Luke is in contention now and travelled with us last week, which is another step forward in his progression. We took him as the 19th man (to Fleetwood) in case anything happened overnight. It was another step forward for him and he’s been bright in training. He’ll obviously be short of match fitness when he gets on the pitch but he is able to come on and impact a game. He has a lot of quality and needs to keep working hard to take his opportunity, because when it does I’m sure he will take it.
ON RORY McARDLE AND MATT GILKS…
GA: Rory took a nasty blow to his head (at Fleetwood), and had a really bad gash across his forehead and eyelid. We’ve been looking after the one around his eye this week. He’ll train on Thursday and we’ll see how he is. Rory came in and showed his full repertoire of qualities. The injury epitomised him, putting his head where it hurts and giving everything for the team. Gillo only trained for two days last week but you could see the positive effect he had on the team and the defence around him. He’s had a full week’s training this week so we want to get him right up to speed, because he probably wasn’t 100 per cent but he’ll be closer to that after a full week this week.
"We deserved it because we played really well and created a lot of chances on the day. We take the confidence from the result and performance into Saturday’s match."
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SQUAD…
GA: There’s good competition but no real excess of players. Everyone is competitive and around the first team, and that’s important for the environment. As we go into these pressure games at the end of the season we have a 22-man squad all pulling in the same direction and helping us win games.
ON BRITISH STEEL FAMILY DAY 2018…
GA: It boosts the attendance, atmosphere and engages us with the community. We know how important British Steel is to the community of Scunthorpe and it’s important that three-way relationship between us, British Steel and the community remains in place. We can’t be successful on our own, and we need the support and loyalty from everyone. We’re looking forward to the day.
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