First team manager Keith Hill has updated Iron Player on the club's work in the current transfer window.
The first signing of the summer was confirmed last week, with Andrew Boyce signing after departing National League rivals Eastleigh after five years, and Hill said: "He was a key component of the recruitment. He’s got the experience, he’s got an affiliation with the football club, he’s a good person, he’s going to be a leader in the changing room, he’s going to be a leader on the pitch, he’s going to promote the standard on the training pitch, and he’s going to help the young players we’ve got.
"Hopefully he’s going to bring the likes of (Ethan) Young and Jai (Rowe) through. He’s a voice, and I think it’s important with my recruitment that I do recruit good people. He’s still very ambitious, he’s a winner, he’s got a determination and desire, he still wants to improve, we had a great chat about the way I want to play, and he’s going to be flexible, he’s going to be adaptable. He’s going to try and improve his opportunities to help Scunthorpe United next season."
Talking about Boyce's past spell with the Iron, between 2013 and 2016, Hill continued: “He certainly knows the club, again I spoke with him and explained my plan for the football club to him, he’s 100 per cent on board. I think he’s got unfinished business, he wants to help, and he certainly will be a big impact for me if he does exactly what I need him to do, which is on the training pitch to promote a higher standard. We have to be competitive on the training pitch so we are ultra-competitive against our opposition, so I think it’s a very good first signing."
About the possibility of other signings coming soon, he continued: “It’s difficult being 'close' in football because over the course of the last two or three weeks I've had players who’ve inferred to me they’ll turn up and sign contracts offered, and the next day they've sent a text message and I've seen through the football world that they've signed for other football clubs.
"It's very diffcult to have something nailed down until it's actually been signed but we've been proactive in our search for the right calibre of people first and foremost, and if we get the right people in, then we'll get the right successes on the football pitch. We're adamant that, while we can be a little frustrated at times to see some of the players which we’ve been actively pursuing for quite a substantial amount of time go to other football clubs, we’re on the right track."
Speaking about Jai Rowe penning his new two-year deal, Hill added: “I think it’s important he gets re-stimulated by signing his new contract and he’s shown a willingness to work with me and the rest of staff to improve his opportunities, to develop within the game on behalf of the our supporters and our football club but ultimately we want to be successful.
"We have to get rid of the scar tissue of the last two or three years that some of the players will have gained. It’s a new beginning and it’s brilliant that Jai has signed, put his trust in us.
"We’re not just hoping, but we’re planning for a really successful future. Part of the process saw us go through a lot of pain last season. In particular, I felt the pain of the supporters but we feel as though it will stand us in good stead and the likes of Jai, Youngy (Ethan Young), Fozzy (Owen Foster), Gally (Daniel Gallimore) will have learnt a lot, and they can take it into the upcoming season and future success for the football club."
Hill concluded with speaking about Ross Millen’s departure to Raith Rovers, saying: “He had an opportunity to return back to Scotland, and once I spoke to Ross with the initial contact from the football club, it was an easy decision for Ross and myself to make and I wish him all the best in the future. It was a difficult season for him to come down from Scotland, he’s given it a go and he’s decided he wants to return back to Scotland. I do wish him all the best, he’s a very good person and I wish him every success in his future career."
See much more from Keith Hill and Jai Rowe on iFollow Iron.