Scunthorpe interim boss Daws excited for Warne reunion in the play-offs

Posted Sunday, May 06, 2018 by PA

Scunthorpe interim manager Nick Daws is looking forward to going up against old friend Paul Warne when the Iron face Rotherham in the League One play-offs – even though it may get him in trouble at home.

Scunthorpe drew 1-1 with Bradford after Conor Townsend restored parity for the hosts following Matt Kilgallon’s headed opener for the Bantams to set up a two-legged meeting with the Millers, where Daws and Warne were team-mates 15 years ago.

“They are a Championship club. Warney (Rotherham manager Paul Warne) is a good friend of mine, so what they’ve done this season wasn’t unexpected,” said Daws.

“I knew they were capable of getting into the play-offs and with a fair wind they could maybe have achieved a little bit more.

“My wife will be devastated because it’s our 25th wedding anniversary this summer.

“We were planning a two-week holiday, which we don’t usually get, but I’m hoping that will be kiboshed because it will revert to a week at best if we get to the final.

“Rotherham have got good players, a good squad and lots of threats. But so have we.”

After a dour first half, Bradford drew first blood when Kilgallon rose brilliantly in the penalty area to powerfully head home Tony McMahon’s corner.

But having got their noses in front, the visitors were pegged back inside four minutes when Townsend showed good composure to lift a shot over Colin Doyle.

Daws said: “I thought it was a fair result. I don’t think we did enough to win the game, but I don’t think Bradford did enough to win the game either.

“It was always going to be a difficult game but we’ve come through the last six weeks of the season unbeaten, which was important.”

Scunthorpe and Bradford were both play-off semi-finalists last season, but a terrible start to 2018 meant the Bantams slid out of contention for a return to Wembley, with their point at Glanford Park meaning they finish the campaign in 11th.

Nevertheless, boss Simon Grayson was pleased to see his side restore some pride with their end to the season.

“We’ve been disappointed since the Blackpool game (at the start of April) when we lost 5-0 away from home and there was a lot of criticism rightly levelled at the players and staff,” he said.

“Since then, we’ve only lost one in seven, though we’ve drawn too many games to get into the play-offs. But we’ve showed character and determination to people wrong.

“We took the game to Scunthorpe today, but we’ve got some good players.

“Unfortunately they’ve not achieved the target they set themselves at the start of the season for various reasons, but we had a real go today, could have won it and we’re disappointed not to have done so.”