After making his first full senior appearance for the Iron in the EFL, Emmanuel Onariase is ready to help push the Iron forward following the defeat on Saturday.
Talking about the match against Cambridge United, he told iFollow Iron: “Of course it is disappointing, as going into the game we thought we’d do better than we did.
“But these things happen - we’ve got to dust ourselves down and pick ourselves up and get going for Tuesday (away at Cheltenham Town).”
Commenting on the penalties awarded against the Iron towards the end of the first half which swung the game in Cambridge's favour, Onariase said: “As unfortunate as it is, I don’t think that the two penalties were penalties. That puts a slump on the whole match, that knocks you down and you’ve got a mountain to climb the whole game.
“I think we should have handled it better than we did. It did knock us back but that’s not an excuse. There are no excuses because we conceded after that. It is a hard mountain to climb when you’re 2-0 down.”
Reflecting on the game as a whole, the defender said: “I think it could have gone differently. Earlier on we had two chances and there could have been a different outcome (if those had been taken).
“I guess in football these things happen and we can’t just keep dwelling on negatives, we know what we need to work on.
“There are a few things we need to get together, organise and sort out. That’s what we need to do. It’s frustrating because I pride myself on my defending and being a defensive unit and not conceding goals.
“So to concede five goals is very frustrating, but I can’t do anything about it now. We’ve just got to look to Tuesday and pick ourselves up."
Onariase admits he can be harsh on himself and has been waiting to get his first 90 minutes, saying: “I’m very self-critical, I’m a very deep thinker. I always think if there’s something I can do more. I’m still getting fit; this is my first full 90.
“I just need to keep on getting fitter, getting stronger and keep competing.”
Talking about the hernia operation which disrupted the start to his first campaign in claret and blue, he said: “It was annoying for it to hit me at the start of the season but big credit to the medical staff and the chairman. All the staff have been really good to me and really positive.
“No one looked down on me and they’ve kept me motivated and positive. It’s picked me up and helped speed up my recovery. I’m raring to go.”
Discussing manager Neil Cox’s feedback after the game, Onariase said: “Everyone’s irritated and frustrated at the outcome. I think we all know what we need to do. That’s the most important thing. We've identified where we went wrong and now we’ve just got to work on it and execute it on the pitch."
The Iron are playing Cheltenham away on Tuesday night (6pm kick-off), and Onariase said: “Tuesday is an opportunity to put things right and that’s what we aim to do.”
See much more from Emmanuel Onariase on iFollow Iron. Click here to buy a £10 match pass for Cheltenham Town v the Iron.