Manager Paul Hurst was delighted to claim three points from the local derby at Grimsby Town on Saturday, as United won 1-0 through Kevin van Veen's second-half strike.
He told iFollow Iron: "It's a good feeling and the result we wanted. We came here for the three points, and we got those in a different manner to the more recent performances.
"As much as we crave a performance as well, and I'd have liked to have seen us come here and play better than we did, sometimes you have to accept you're not going to play as well as you'd like. Derby games for some reason are often like that, but it's a good feeling to get three points in the bag and carry on our good run.
"As Kevin went through, it didn't surprise me when it went in because he's been in good form. He's got a good tally as I didn't pick him in the first game of the season and he then got injured. If he can carry on as he is, he could get to 20+ goals, which would be a great return.
"To have that in your team is great. We have Novs (Lee Novak), who we know will score goals, as well as other threats. We didn't pass the ball well at all today. We weren't anywhere near our best but what we did, with good goalkeeping, defending and perhaps finishing by them that wasn't of the quality of Kev's strike to win the game, was keep a clean sheet.
"We had a similar chance (to van Veen's) with Jamie Proctor and it would have been nice to get that and have a breather in the last minute or so!
"We had a bad week in terms of the injuries we got (Jordan Clarke, Abo Eisa and Andy Dales), and had two more today (Yann Songo'o and Junior Brown), and that made it a difficult game to get it right in terms of what to do next, and the formations, but the diamond worked perfectly for us to get the ball in to Wardy (Jamie Ward), who slipped it through to Kev to finish. We're delighted with that.
"We'll have to see how the injured players are but we're delighted for the travelling fans. We're well aware we weren't at our best, and Grimsby played well today, but the most important thing is winning the game of football. We managed that and I'm delighted for everyone involved with Scunthorpe United."
Clarke (quad) could be out into the New Year, though Eisa (groin) and Dales (dead leg) could be back for the Walsall game on Boxing Day. Speaking further about the injuries picked up by Songo'o and Perch at Blundell Park, Hurst added: "Yann's was a result of a tackle and I don't know if it's his toe or foot at this stage, as I haven't had the chance to see yet, while Junior was feeling his quad. I'm hoping it's nothing long-term, but it doesn't help because that's potentially five players. Some of those might be okay for Boxing Day, but we'll have to wait and see."
Speaking about early substitute Jamie Ward being replaced in the closing stages, he continued: "Wardy didn't train on Wednesday, and I think fitness-wise, I had it more in mind to bring him on with 25-30 minutes left. We threw him on earlier and he produced a moment of quality (to set up the goal). Bringing him off at the end was more tactical than anything else."
Hurst concluded by thanking the 1,737 away supporters who made the trip to support United in the derby, saying: "They were superb and I'd have liked for us to have given them more to shout about throughout the game generally, but I'm sure if you'd have asked them they'd have taken being Scunthorpe United today and winning the game of football. I was certainly happy with another three points."
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