Iron debutant Adam Hammill was delighted to have influenced the game positively, after coming onto the pitch as a substitute to score the late equalising goal in the 1-1 draw with high-flying Sunderland at Glanford Park on Saturday afternoon.
Hammill has had to wait patiently for his chance to shine after arriving at the club early in January, but now, he hopes he can push on in the colours of claret and blue and grab the opportunity by the scruff of the neck, in order to become a hero at Glanford Park.
The 30-year-old has also heaped praise on his fellow teammates after the draw made it five games unbeaten for the Iron in Sky Bet League One, and Hammill believes everyone has upped their game over the last couple of weeks.
Speaking to iFollow Iron after the Sunderland encounter, the winger reflected back on the fantastic start to his Scunthorpe United career after netting on his debut: “It’s always nice to score on your debut and it was well deserved for the lads as well because we put in a good performance today. I think we could have even come away with the three points, but we showed the character and a never say die attitude, so we were fully deserving to be in the game with them.”
Over the years, Hammill has made long range shooting one of his trademark specialities, scoring a number of goals from outside the area, including one from his own half earlier on in the season when playing for St Mirren.
Talking about the strike, the winger joked: “I’ve made a career out of those types of goals.
“I’m delighted to have scored on by debut, but more importantly, it helped the team get a great point in the end.”
The Black Cats’ had previously taken the lead midway through the second half courtesy of Josh Maja, but the Iron responded brilliantly to going a goal down, and when Hammill was substituted onto the pitch 16 minutes from time, he was the man to provide the well-deserved point.
After scoring, the attacker went over to celebrate in front of the Scunthorpe United faithful, adding: “It’s too nice to be able to celebrate in front of the fans because it’s been tough the last couple of weeks for me.
“I’ve had to work hard in training and wait for the opportunity to arise. I knew once that chance came, I had to showcase what I can do. It was definitely nice to be able to show everyone what I am capable of doing and I hope now that’s the start of many more.
“I just wanted to come on and try to influence the game. I wanted to have a positive impact whether that be running at the defence and creating opportunities or scoring, which I thankfully did today.”
The Iron almost took the lead early in the first half, when Lee Novak’s close-range volley tested Jon McLaughlin in the Sunderland goal.
Then just ten minutes later, McLaughlin had to be alert again when George Thomas was played through by Novak, but the goalkeeper charged off his line to stop the shot with his legs.
So, when the Black Cats’ found themselves ahead after 59 minutes, the Iron felt hard done by, after being the dominante side for the majority of the match.
However, Hammill was pleased with the side’s response to going a goal down, and says Scunthorpe were unlucky not to get more than a point.
He stated: “It was an excellent spirited team performance. We put them under a lot of pressure throughout the game and we had the better chances in the ninety minutes.
“We were all speaking after the match and obviously we were delighted with the point, but we could have got more.”
“However, it’s definitely a positive and we’ve got to look into it what we can, which is the fact it’s another game unbeaten and we are starting to climb the table now.”
The attacker then went on to say this about the team performances over the last few weeks: “We have been brilliantly recently.
“The new signings have all come in and the lads have responded magnificently. They’ve gone on an unbeaten run, so they’ve all upped their game levels, and everyone has been working hard in training.”
“The gaffer has approached us about how we have training and he’s been delighted with how it’s going. He said when you get your opportunity, try to grasp it and take it.”
Next up, the Iron will look to continue their fine form and stretch their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions when they travel to Fleetwood next Saturday to take on Joey Barton’s team.
Speaking ahead of the encounter, Hammill said: “It’s another game where we can hopefully get the three points and it’s important for us to go there and try to maintain the unbeaten run. It’s great when the confidence is flowing, and the matches can’t come quick enough for us at the minute.”