Jimmy Dean: It's ended up being a good point

First team manager Jimmy Dean reflected on a point on the board away at Chorley, in another game on the road where the Iron were forced to play a sizeable chunk with 10 men.

Will Evans saw a controversial second yellow card in the 69th minute following an element of gamesmanship from Chorley defender Mark Ellis, just moments after a first caution for a general foul.

“It’s ended up being a good point,” he said.

“For the first 20 minutes, we just weren’t at the races. We missed first contacts, we weren’t getting tight on the halfway line, we weren’t tracking runners. We couldn’t keep possession. Our biggest problem today was ourselves. Most of our problems came from our inability to keep the ball and do what we’re good at. We looked a little bit disjointed.

“For the second part of the first half, we did start doing that. We started moving the ball really well and they started dropping off and we caused them problems. We got a goal when we were on top, which is what they didn’t do, and we go in at half-time 1-0 up.

“We come out at the start of the second half and, when we’d fought so hard to get into the game and get a goal, that (the equaliser) was unacceptable.”

Evans’ dismissal sparked yet more discontent from the United boss, with both the Iron’s central defender and Ellis cautioned for events which seemingly only involved action from the home player.

“The next talking point again is the referee,” he continued. 

“He’s been conned there. Mark has used his experience, realised Will has just taken a yellow and pushed him. Will is a dominant six-foot-four dominant centre-half and has got to stand his ground.

“Mark has put his head into Will, and then he (Ellis) has dived down and rolled on the floor and the referee has decided to book both without considering the dynamic of the situation. Will had just been booked, he wouldn’t be doing that, he wouldn’t be that stupid.

“Then it’s backs against the wall for 30-35 minutes. I thought the players dug in and managed it really well. It was a partisan crowd here, and I thought it was a good point in the end against a side in the play-offs.”

Shortly after half-time, Scunthorpe lost Max Kouogun to injury, with an enforced substitution seeing Andrew Boyce come off the bench.

Dean updated on the situation following his withdrawal: “He went up for a header and landed awkwardly. I think it’s the MCL, the inside of his knee. He wanted to play on, but we made the decision for him, rather than go through what we went through the other night.

“I thought Boycey was outstanding when he came on. He’s experienced, marshalled us and defending the box superbly. He caused problems in their box and, considering he’s not had many minutes, I thought he was a credit to himself.

“Ross Barrows made his competitive debut, and I thought he came on and dominated the first balls, and showed why we brought him to the club.”

It’s another game where the United boss will be counting his losses, but he has a week with his side on the training ground to aid recovery. While it’s definite that Kian Scales will return to contention following his three-game suspension, United will be without Evans who starts a one-match suspension, and will check in the treatment room ahead of naming the squad next weekend.

“We’ve got Will suspended now, we will have to see where Maxi is at on Monday, we’ve got Kian back,” he continued. 

“It’ll be 50-50 whether Alfie (Beestin) and Reagan (Ogle) can be involved. Reagan could be okay to come straight back in, if he’s over the injury as he’s symptomatic. For Alfie, he’s not going to be ready to come straight back in, but if we can get him on the bench and get 25-30 minutes into him, it’ll be a massive plus for us because he’s an outstanding footballer.”