Carver: I feel a lot fitter now I'm back

Striker Marcus Carver has reflected on his time on loan at Southport, and previewed Saturday's trip down south where the Iron will take on Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League.

Firstly, Carver spoke about his return to the club following several weeks away on loan. He said: “It’s been good to return to my parent club after six weeks at Southport. I enjoyed my time there and it was good to get some wins under my belt, but I’ve come back with more confidence and I feel sharper and fitter too. I’m just looking forward to getting going.” 

He then went on to speak about his time at Southport, where he scored twice in eight appearances, adding: “For me the main thing with going on loan was to get my confidence and my fitness back, as I didn’t come in the best shape. To go back to the club I was at ten months ago was the best thing for me as I knew how they played and I slotted straight in.

“The main thing was to go and enjoy my football, and I did that, so now I’ve come back and I feel a lot fitter. Hopefully, I can get a game on Saturday and show what I can do. It was always the plan to get my fitness and then come back here and prove a point to show why Scunthorpe signed me. Hopefully, I can get started.”

Marcus then looked ahead to Saturday's game at Dagenham, a match which his team-mate Joe Nuttall will miss due to a one-match suspension for accumulating five bookings so far this season. He said: “We’re gutted that Joe’s suspended as he’s a massive player for us, but hopefully I’ve done enough in training this week to get into that starting 11. Hopefully, I’ll be able to take my chance.” 

Following Saturday's defeat to Maidstone, the forward spoke about how training has been this week. He said: “We had a meeting where we discussed what we think needs to change and I feel like the standards in training have been a lot higher since then. We’re expecting more from each other and if we take that into Saturday's game then I don’t see why we don’t have a chance of picking up some points.” 

The Iron haven’t won away since Boxing Day, and Marcus finished by speaking about the prospect of ending that streak: “These things are there to be broken and we certainly want to get this record off our charts. We want to start our own record, get a few wins under our belt, and obviously climb that table.” 

See more from Marcus Carver and Tony Daws on Iron Player.