Reacting to the 1-1 draw in the Checkatrade Trophy against Lincoln City, captain Rory McArdle believes that the team should take positives, not just in that game, but in recent weeks as well.
Speaking to iFollow Iron, after the match, he said: “I think it was a fair result in reflection. We had a couple of chances when we went one-nil up, so we could have maybe extended our advantage. However, you could argue that they had some decent opportunities as well.
“The second half was stretched a little bit more than the first, especially when they started to push for the equaliser. Equally, we are still happy with the amount of chances we are creating during the game, but we need to work on not trying to concede as many to the opposition.”
Lincoln are the current holders of the competition and McArdle always knew that they would provide a difficult challenge on the night.
“They’ve got a real physical presence throughout the team and they tried to utilize that as much as possible," he continued.
"They are effective in that way which showed because that’s where their goal game from.
“However, I think as a whole, we dealt with the threat well. We knew that they were always going to try and get bodies forward, plus they are in a good bit of form as well and they are going to want to get as far as possible in the competition like they did last year.”
Having recently just returned from a spell on the sidelines following a nasty heel injury picked up in pre-season, the 31-year-old is delighted to be back out on the pitch but is also happy with the amount of competition for places in the starting eleven.
“It was frustrating (to be out injured), but equally it’s important that everybody else keeps doing well when they are in the team, so we can keep moving forward as a squad. I’m back now, but as a whole, there’s people fighting for places in every position which is what we want.
“We need everyone fit and firing, so when they are in the team, they can do their upmost to keep themselves in it.”
Next up for the Iron, it’s back to league action as they face Peterborough at Glanford Park, marking the return of striker Ivan Toney. McArdle knows all about the forward and the threat he will pose after he netted six times in 15 appearances during his loan spell in Scunthorpe last season.
Talking about that game, he went on to say: “It’s going to be a difficult match, they are on a good little run themselves and have started the season well. They’ve also had quite a few changes throughout the summer with a new manager coming in as well which has given them that extra lift.
“The majority of people at the club know all about Ivan Toney and the strengths that he’s got, we’ll look at that to see how we are going to deal with it, but we also know that he’s not the only threat.
“We’ll go out there with our own game plan and look to cause them as many problems as possible. Equally, we’ve got to be on our guard, limit their chances because they are going to have people like Ivan to snap them up.”
The Iron are unbeaten in four league games at Glanford Park and have won each of their last two encounters on home soil, something the skipper is looking to continue.
“We need to not dwell on last weekend’s result (against Luton) too much. We managed to get the win on the Tuesday previously against Charlton at home," he stated.
“We want to build on that and with everyone’s support, we can keep moving forward up the league, then hopefully by Saturday, we will all be happy.”