Midfielder Jem Karacan was disappointed with the result on a return to one of his former sides, as the Iron left the University of Bolton Stadium with nothing following a 2-0 defeat.
Despite admitting the side weren’t at their best on the night against Bolton Wanderers, the 32-year-old felt United were well in the game until a controversial first-half penalty was awarded to the Trotters.
“It was a disappointing night for everyone,” he said, talking to iFollow Iron.
“We sat in there and they had a lot of the ball in the first half. Not much was created and then the referee gives them a penalty and they go ahead, which was frustrating. We came back into it in the second half, had a couple of chances, but we weren’t ruthless enough and they get the second to kill the game.
“I don’t think many of their lads even called for it (the penalty), so it’s disappointing. It’s a penalty that’s changed the game. We changed shape in the second half and came back into it. Kev (van Veen) has had one off the line and one saved."
United had won four games in a row coming into the game and joined Bolton as one of the in-form teams in the division, but it was the hosts who emerged victorious on the night.
“We’re good enough to come to these places and pick up wins and to come here off the back of four wins in a row, we’ve let ourselves down a little bit,” he continued.
“Five games ago, had we been told we would take 12 out of 15 points, we would have taken it. We have to erase it from the memory and move onto Saturday. It’s gone now, we move on from it. The games come thick and fast.”
Despite defeat, Scunthorpe can take positives out of the game, with more minutes under the belts of a couple of returning players.
“The second half performance was good,” he stated.
“Harrison (McGahey) has come back into it. He’s a quality player, so it’s good to see him back out there and get a solid 45 minutes. He’s just said he feels good, so that’s a positive, as is another 45 minutes for Kev. We’ve got two of our key players back in the team.
“If we have belief in ourselves, we can beat anyone, so hopefully we can take that out of it.”
Karacan is also getting back up to speed himself after a shoulder injury which forced him off early in the game against Colchester. He would have missed the successive games had they not been called off and ended up not missing a completed match during his spell on the sidelines.
“It was a strange one and a little bit frustrating,” he added.
“I was back into it and had my fitness, and then I got my shoulder injury. It’s been sore, but luckily enough, I didn’t miss a game, so that has been good. We’ve got 18 games coming up now and I’ve got a lot of belief in this group of lads to get on another run, and so has the gaffer. He’s been brilliant for myself since I came in.
“We owe it to him and the rest of the staff who are working hard day in, day out.”
The Iron welcome Cheltenham to the Sands Venue Stadium at the weekend, searching for four home league wins in a row for the first time since April 2017 after securing a third win in succession last time out for the first time since November 2017.
Speaking about the home run of late, Jem said: “We’ve turned our stadium into a little bit of a fortress lately, so we have to make sure we battle hard on Saturday against a good team coming to us.
“We’ve got a lot of quality in our camp and can beat anyone in this league. We’re being competitive and winning our games at home. Myself and the boys are looking upwards. We want to push those teams above us."
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