Adkins hails Iron character

Adkins: Praised Iron effort

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Nigel Adkins reckons Scunthorpe's 2-0 home win against Sheffield Wednesday could be a "defining game" in their season.

The Iron received great credit for their performance in their 4-2 FA Cup loss to Manchester City at the weekend.

And manager Adkins was thrilled to see his side back that up with a sixth home win of the season to boost their Championship survival hopes.

Gary Hooper gave the Iron a dream start with the opener inside 80 seconds before Grant McCann got his reward for a faultless display with a second goal 13 minutes from the end.

That avenged a 4-0 away defeat back in August and gave the Iron their maiden home league win over Wednesday, while more importantly moving them above the Owls and six points clear of the drop zone.

"We knew that this game would be the hardest of the season and a defining game in the season," said Adkins.

Defended manfully

"We got off to a great start and after that we had to defend manfully. We made poor decisions, simply because of the effects of the weekend.

"The lads had to show fantastic character. It was against a team in form, a team that gave us a good hiding earlier in the season. To win the game 2-0 just shows how far we've come.

"We have a group of players that have come a long way and we've a lot of ability in this team. We knew it would be a tough game as it proved to be. Sheffield Wednesday dominated the game but we defended very well.

"When you've had a big game, it's the game after that is always difficult because of the mental energy you exert. We've just beaten Sheffield Wednesday at home, we're Scunthorpe United and that's fantastic."

Wednesday manager Alan Irvine was disappointed to see his perfect start in the Hillsborough hotseat come to an end and was left to rue his side's inability to trouble home goalkeeper Joe Murphy.

Irvine had won his first three games in charge of the Owls but his men laboured in front of goal at Glanford Park despite plenty of possession and pressure.

Horrendous start

They created just one chance of note during a disappointing first half and did little better after the interval, with Michael Gray fluffing his lines when clean through in what turned out to be their best opportunity.

"I think we deserved something out of the game. It was a horrendous start and I'm disappointed about that," said Irvine.

"I'm not going to be too critical, we will hopefully learn. We were on the back foot for the first 20 minutes or so and I thought we got a grip of the game from then on.

"We got in the final third a lot and you have to give credit to Scunthorpe, they defended their box very well.

"Maybe we needed a bit more quality to open them up. We huffed and puffed a lot but we didn't look like we were going to score a lot of goals.

"The lads realise where we are. We're obviously in a relegation battle and are aware of that. We need to keep that in mind until we get ourselves safe, if we're able to do that."