Alexander lauds up his Scunny super subs

GRAHAM Alexander hailed the impact of his Scunthorpe super subs, after coming from behind to claim a point at former club Fleetwood.

Eggert Jonsson and David Ball looked to have given Uwe Rosler his first Fleetwood win, but substitute Tom Hopper started the comeback and Kevin van Veen’s wonderful equaliser sealed a point.

And Alexander believes his team’s attitude has been spot on after coming from behind in both league games so far this season.

“That’s what we’ve got – we have 11 good players plus others we can bring on,” he said.

“This season, all the subs that have come on have made a great impact.

“We don’t want to do it every week, but it means you have a great spirit, a great fitness level and a good mentality.

“We need to foster that because it wins you points.

“We showed a fantastic attitude. We hadn’t played anywhere near the levels we knew we were capable of.

“But we got a grip of the game, and if I’m being greedy we could have scored even more.”

Jimmy Ryan hit the bar from a 23rd-minute free-kick and on 37 minutes Fleetwood were in front – Jonsson heading in from Bobby Grant’s cross.

Ball doubled the lead on 51 minutes, running at the defence before curling a low rightfooted shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards out.

But Hopper pulled one back on 63 minutes, nodding in the rebound when Chris Neal saved Jordan Clarke’s header.

And four minutes later, moments after Devante Cole’s free header was saved at the other end, Van Veen curled the equaliser into the top corner from 30 yards out.

Scunthorpe nearly won it on 84 minutes, but Neal beat Luke Williams’ effort away before bouncing up to parry Joe Clarke’s rebound clear.

And Rosler admitted: “It was a game of ups and downs.

“It was very tough for both teams but especially for us having had 24 hours less to prepare.

“It was particularly tough for our three midfield players – they have a very demanding role in our pressing game anyway and it was difficult to do all the pressing and chasing and then still be influential on the ball.

“But we were 2-0 up and deserved that. We didn’t over-complicate things. But then from there, it’s disappointing we didn’t do everything 100 per cent right.

“We switched off and allowed Scunthorpe back into the game.”