Paul Hurst hopes Scunthorpe can take positives from draw with Bradford
Posted Sunday, September 29, 2019 by PA
Scunthorpe boss Paul Hurst believes his side can take confidence from a 1-1 draw with Bradford after playing most of the game with 10 men.
Matthew Lund was sent off after 19 minutes for a lunge on Matt Palmer, who left the ground in a knee brace.
But Hurst was pleased with how his struggling side battled for only their sixth point in 11 games.
The Scunthorpe boss said: “These things test you and it’s certainly testing. But you enjoy it a lot more when you see the players giving the effort and commitment to the shirt.
“It should give them confidence and helps with togetherness. You don’t want to have to go through that sort of game but it can give you something to build on.
“I’m pleased with the effort the players put in and they certainly deserved a point. We had to soak up pressure but Rory (Watson) didn’t have loads of saves to make.”
Bradford captain James Vaughan hit the post before Scunthorpe took a 13th-minute lead through Jamie Ward’s penalty. The Northern Ireland international’s shot had been handled in the box by Kelvin Mellor.
But Lund was red-carded soon after – a challenge that brought heavy criticism from Bradford manager Gary Bowyer.
He said: “It’s a terrible tackle and this from a lad who has been out for a long time with injuries.
“He’s trying to say it wasn’t a sending off but I’m afraid it is when he sees it back.
“We’re going to have to send Matty for a scan on Monday and fingers crossed.”
Hurst added: “I can understand why it was a red. Their player has got away from Lundy and from his response, I got the feeling it wasn’t a big surprise.
“He has played every game for me and will now serve a three-match ban. That’s another issue for us.
“But looking at the last two home games, coming from two goals to draw against Oldham and now today shows the character.”
Clayton Donaldson, making his 600th career appearance, wasted a close-range header before Bradford equalised after 56 minutes when defender Paudie O’Connor scored from Harry Pritchard’s cross.
Lee Novak then cleared off the line from Donaldson as Scunthorpe hung on for the point.
Bowyer added: “You look at the amount of possession we had, the crosses and corners. We just need to be a bit more ruthless in front of goal.
“We just needed to stay patient. Some of the crosses we put in were fantastic deliveries and it was just that final bit that was missing.
“You have to give Scunthorpe credit as well for the blocks that they had. We’ve shifted the ball at a tempo and created numerous chances.
“We certainly made their back four work hard from crosses. But we didn’t make their goalkeeper work enough from shots.”
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