First team manager Jimmy Dean previews the Iron’s highly anticipated visit to the Flamingo Land Stadium, as his side sets up to face play-off hopefuls Scarborough Athletic.
Firstly, Dean addressed the three new additions that have been added to his ranks over the past week by saying: “They’re three good players who have definitely freshened the place up. Flynn had already been training with us a day or two per week for the last three weeks, as we’ve been trying to get him lifted and match fit due to having a little bit further to go than the others for obvious reasons.
“The other two have come in looking really sharp, they’ve definitely already added to the group and the dynamic which is what we needed, so I’m looking forward to getting involved.”
All three acquisitions are labelled as attack minded players, Dean explained the need for the signings and what each player can bring to the side when adding: “Dylan (Youmbi) has got that rawness and plenty of pace, he’s got a powerful left foot and he’s robust which he showed against us. Liam (McAlinden) is a cute player, very clever, along with being very versatile which we saw when he played wing-back against us last season and he really impressed me then.
“Creativity is something we need and it’s been something we’ve lacked since we lost the two wingers (Callum Roberts and Connor Smith) and these two will bring it. Everyone’s really pushed their chests out this week and hopefully what we’ve done will transfer onto the field tomorrow.”
The signings have only been made possible as a result of the club having the long-sustained transfer embargo come to an end that the Iron had been under over the course of recent months. Dean spoke out about the relieve of having the embargo finally lifted: “We’ve had the embargo for three-to-four months now, and the Board have done a fantastic job getting it lifted. I don’t think anyone can understand how hard it been for them in order to get that done, and now we’ve got to repay them.”
As a result of the signings being made there has been made room for outgoings too leave in the opposite direction, the Gaffer provided an update on this situation by saying: “There’s one agreed and hopefully there’s one or two more in the pipeline, but it’s not us saying that you’ve got to go now - it’s just that the boys want to play games because they’re professionals. Look at Tom Pugh and Dion Sembie-Ferris who have been on successful loans, and have returned to go straight back into the thick of the first team.”
Following United’s disappointing 1-0 defeat against Curzon Ashton also weekend, Dean spoke about how he’s found having a week of preparation could benefit his team: “It’s been a really good week with the stuff that’s needed to happen being spoken about and I believe we’ve addressed all issues out on the training pitch ready for the weekend.”
With the game against Scarborough set to be an enthralling encounter the Manager assessed the fixture by saying: “They’re another side in the play-offs, but we need to get a result and I want us to go there and really have a go. I want us to be brave, robust and dynamic - all the things that we probably haven’t been enough of recently.”