Talking after the 1-1 away draw at Shrewsbury Town, United caretaker manager Andy Dawson said a point was the fair result and praised the team’s defensive resilience during the game.
The Iron took the lead in the 23rd minute through a Kyle Wootton header, but the hosts levelled on 84 minutes when a right-wing cross took a deflection off Adam Hammill and went into his own net.
Assessing the game with iFollow Iron, Dawson said: “I thought it was a fair result in the end. They put a lot of pressure on us, although I felt we handled it really well in the second-half. I thought we were organised and were tight and compact. Although they had a lot of the ball, we dealt with the pressure and showed resilience.
“If we produce those performances and that grit, with a little bit more quality, we’ll be more than alright. It gives me and the staff great belief as well, because we defended very well against a team with a good home record, who are a strong unit and can hurt teams. Wherever you are in the league, you have to commit to that and defend to a man. Your luck then comes around. The harder you work, the luckier you get.
“We know we can play a little bit better with the ball and showed spells of it, though a little more of that was needed. The defending as a team really pleased us though.
“If you don’t get three points, you go away with one. It’s a building block from last week and if we had showed that resilience in the first half last week, we might have been talking about three points then. We’ll move forward and take the positives from the game.
“They’re all big matches. If we approach the next five as we have done today, I have total confidence we’ll be okay.”
Talking about Wootton’s goal, which was his fourth of the season, he said: “It was a great ball from Macca (Tony McMahon). It was well worked with Jordy (Hallam) playing it back to him. We know the quality he has and it was great movement from Kyle and a great finish.”
There were four changes to the team, with Cameron Burgess, Levi Sutton, George Thomas and Kevin van Veen making way for Rory McArdle, Hallam, Hammill and Wootton.
Dawson added: “The three who came on had a positive impact on the game last week and deserved their chance today. I’m really pleased with them, they all worked their socks off.”
Tony McMahon and Tom Pearce both came off during the game, and Dawson explained those injuries following the game, while he also provided updates on Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Levi Sutton.
He said: “Macca felt his hamstring, while Tom’s was his groin, so they’ll both be assessed over the weekend, but fingers crossed they won’t be too bad.
“CBJ’s gone back to Manchester United (for treatment). He picked up a tight hamstring in training last week, and Levi woke up this morning with an illness. It’s unfortunate for them.”
232 Iron supporters made the long trip to Shropshire, and Dawson thanked them for their efforts, adding: “They’re a massive part of it and I thank every single one of them for coming because it’s a long way. Yes, we wanted the three points, but hopefully they’ve gone away pleased with a really gritty, resilient performance.”
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