Hill speaks following a point at Stevenage

First team manager Keith Hill provided his reaction to iFollow Iron after United’s 1-1 League Two draw at Stevenage.

Myles Hippolyte's first-half equaliser cancelled out an opening goal from Luke Norris, as Scunthorpe extended their run to just one defeat in five league games since Hill's appointment as first team manager a month ago.

Hill began by speaking about the result, saying: “I am pleased with the point, but I would have liked three. I thought some of the performance levels in the second half and end of the first half were exceptional in the pursuit of trying to score. We just  didn’t get the numbers, or the right players in the box, when playing with the ball in to get us that second goal. I think both teams would say that a draw is a fair result.

“I don’t like the way we started the game and I don’t like the way we conceded the goal. It was poor and it was almost too easy to give the opposition an opportunity to score. We have to work harder to defend our goal and I was extremely disappointed at half time. 

"I want bravery and I want brave players to get on the ball. I want to defend with the ball but when we’re doing that we have to have players who are prepared for the turnover. We have to strike that balance and that’s why I selected that team tonight.” 

On the quick response to going a goal down, Hill said: “We shouldn’t have to respond like that, the response should be that we’re playing a game tonight and we've got to be competitive. Let them take a look at us instead of us taking a look at them. My concern is going away from home and this hide and seek mentality from the players. I’ve had it before and we have to make sure the players are brave in their pursuit of the three points and taking on the opponent and that’s what I’m searching for.” 

He added: "We've drawn four games since I took over, but we could have won three of those. We've had the chances to. I'm encouraged by certain aspects but it's far too easy at certain times for us to give the opposition goalscoring opportunities. We're playing good football, look in control and then in a turnover it's too easy to present opportunities when they shouldn't really be getting any."

See much more from Keith Hill and Tom Pugh on iFollow Iron.