First team manager Neil Cox returned to the building on Monday ahead of the Iron’s away league encounter at Mansfield Town.
The United boss was absent for the defeat at Forest Green Rovers through illness, instead watching the game on iFollow from his home.
Reflecting on the encounter, which the Iron lost 3-2, he said: “It was a difficult watch.
“The last couple of games have been disappointing and three set pieces cost us the game really. I spoke my mind (on Monday). I had a few honest words with all of them on what I expect and how it’s going to be.
“We have to have some givens and that’s to work your socks off for the football club and to show you care, and that’s what I told them this morning.”
Scunthorpe next come up against a Stags team, managed by Nigel Clough who have, in many ways, had a similar campaign. Indeed, their most recent win at the weekend took them a point shy of 50 points for the season and all but ensured their league status for 2021-22.
“Their result on Saturday has probably got them safe,” he continued.
“Nigel has done a good job since he’s gone there. He took over at a difficult time when they were struggling. They’ve picked up and had a lot of draws, 19, I think.
“This season is not finished. We’ve got five games to go, and we need to try and win all five, be positive and finish on a high. We don’t want to rely on anybody else doing us a favour. It’s all about what we do, and I want to finish strongly so we can push onto next season.”
United will be missing most of the starting backline from the weekend’s encounter at the innocent New Lawn, with three players set to sit out the game after picking up fresh injuries.
One of those is club captain Jordan Clarke who limped off after 18 minutes following a 50-50 in the middle of the pitch.
“Jordan is out, and it looks like a bad one,” he stated.
“It looks like his season is finished. He’s come back from a bad ankle injury, got himself fit again, and slides in for a tackle and he’s opened his knee up. It looks like a bad knee injury.
“Jacob Bedeau is going to be out with concussion. He failed a test on Saturday and failed another one today, so he will miss the next couple of games. Jai Rowe has had a really bad whack on the knee from after their penalty when we never got given a free-kick. His knee has swelled, so that’s a problem.
“Harrison (McGahey) has a tight quad again, so we’ll have to be careful with him. We’re short again, so we’ll have a look and put a side together to win the game and be positive.”
The side will have Manny Onariase and Ryan Loft available for selection, in more positive news, as they both came through training on Monday, while youngster Joey Dawson is set to travel to the One Call Stadium.
“Manny and Lofty have trained this morning,” he continued.
“It’s really good. Will they be needed? We’ll have to look on Tuesday and see who is fit. I’ll be taking everybody that is fit, so Joey Dawson will come into the squad. He’s okay now and he’s trained all weekend, which is good, and he’s looking for an opportunity, so hopefully we can get some minutes into him in the remaining games.
“It’s an opportunity for players to play for five games of the season, and either show me what they can do or show other managers what they can do, if they want to get another contract.”
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