McGreal praises players after Colchester earn draw at Scunthorpe

Posted Sunday, December 15, 2019 by PA

Colchester boss John McGreal praised his side’s fighting spirit as they came back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw at in-form Scunthorpe.

The U’s are now unbeaten in six League Two matches ahead of a midweek Carabao Cup trip to Manchester United, and McGreal insisted Old Trafford could not have been further from his players’ minds at the Sands Venue Stadium.

He said: “I’ve got to applaud the players for the way they fought back. At 2-0 down, we could have easily buckled, but we didn’t.

“Early on it seemed a bit of a basketball match – Scunthorpe were having shots and so were we. I thought both teams were always in the game.

“We changed it a little bit after Scunthorpe’s second goal, but really it’s all about the boys and their application.
“The first goal was a real shot in the arm for us and the final half an hour was played in Scunthorpe’s half.

“People who don’t know our players probably thought we’d have had one eye on Wednesday night, but that wasn’t the case at all.

“The players know if they’re not on it, someone will come in and take their place. The boys know when they’ve got that shirt, they have to produce.

“We’ve taken 12 points in the last six games, which is a nice run.”

Scunthorpe squandered a host of first-half chances before Abo Eisa struck a stylish solo goal, cutting in from the left and finding the far corner in the 42nd minute.

When Kevin Van Veen headed in from Alex Gilliead’s cross two minutes after the restart, the hosts looked to be well on the way to victory.

But Luke Norris chested down to drill the U’s back into the game in the 58th minute before Luke Prosser’s far-post finish four minutes later earned them a share of the spoils.

“Clearly it’s disappointing to draw a game when it happens that way round – you feel like you’ve lost,” Scunthorpe boss Paul Hurst said.

“I thought both teams nullified each other to a degree, but our wide players looked more of a threat.

“At 2-0 you hope – and expect in truth – to go on and win the game, so having not done that, and having to settle for a point, is frustrating.

“Colchester are on an unbeaten run, but they’ll be happy with a point. The first goal we conceded was sloppy – you can’t allow someone to bring the ball down on their chest in your box.

“After the equaliser we huffed and puffed, I don’t know if we got a bit nervy, but we lost our quality.

“Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition, we don’t want to become arrogant just because we’re on a good run.

“When you’re winning games, there’s an expectation that comes with that. That shows the progress we’ve made.”