Iron manager Jimmy Dean has reflected on the weekend win over Dagenham and Redbridge, as he looked forward to Tuesday night's trip to Wrexham.
The boss started by talking about the feeling in the camp following Saturday’s important win, saying: “There’s nice bright energy and it’s what we’ve been working for. It was a positive result on Saturday and a positive performance too.”
It’s a quick turnaround for the Iron as the team travel across the country to Wrexham, as Dead added: “It’s a really tough fixture but it’s one we have to engage with and look forward to. Every game provides an opportunity. It’s tough but if you can’t get up for these then what’s the point in being in football? It’s 11 versus 11, and it’s us versus them, so we just have to front up and go in with a game plan. We have to keep out intensity up, keep our work rates up, and hopefully get something.”
Dean added: “I’ve had it myself where one season we won the first 25 league games and then lost three on the trot. I’m not saying they [Wrexham] can’t deal with it because they keep winning and they’re a fantastic team, but there’s a big pressure and a big expectancy on them. We just have to try and close the gap as best we can on Tuesday, stay in the game as long as we can, and see where that takes us.”
He continued: “They conceded two against Woking and three against Aldershot. It gives you a bit of hope. They’d won 12 on the bounce at home and now they’ve drawn one. Ultimately, football is about levels and we will find out on Tuesday night.”
The Iron boss then spoke about the fitness of the team following Saturday’s hard fought win, adding: “There were some stiff bodies on Monday. They put an awful lot in on Saturday and some of the new lads are still getting up to speed and we’recoming off the back of a two week break. That side has been difficult to manage but we think we have.”
He continued: “They’ve all come through training on Monday and there are no new injuries so fingers crossed everyone will be alright for Tuesday. We also have the added bonus of Gerry McDonagh training now (following injury) which offers us the chance to do something different and potentially change the shape. We will see how we feel about that on Tuesday. Sean Shields trained again today (after missing the early part of last week) and will be available for the squad on Tuesday.”
Jimmy then spoke about his selection headache, with many of the first team players proving their worth: “There are difficult decisions to make, I think the bench came on and really impacted the game well with (Liam) Feeney coming on and scoring the winner, Elliott Whitehouse came on and really solidified us, and Dion Sembie-Ferris had a really good impact too, and he will be pushing to be starter in this team. He’s gone from part-time to full-time but I know he can do it.”
The Iron have three away games coming up, and the gaffer spoke about how important the travelling fans will be during this run, adding: “It’s a credit to anyone who's travelling. We’re Scunthorpe United and these people live and breathe the football club, and they’d follow us across the Atlantic if they had to.”
He finished: “It’s the big draw for me, trying to make these people happy, and I don’t want to fail them. I went through it with the players again this morning, I showed them a vlog from Saturday, just to show them how much it means to everyone here and what they’re representing. It’s a fantastic effort to get to Wrexham but we know quite a few will do it. We want to go there and compete, no one is expecting us to win, but we need to give an honest account of ourselves and a big effort. If we compete the best we can, let’s see where it takes us.”
See much more from Jimmy Dean on Iron Player.