Brian Laws praises full-back: "It's like Eddie Nolan never left Scunthorpe United"

SUCH has been the ease at which he has slotted back into the Scunthorpe United starting XI this week, manager Brian Laws says you would struggle to have noticed that Eddie Nolan had been away.

The Irish defender, currently with the Iron on a non-contract basis, played his first competitive football in more than nine months last Saturday, in the 2-1 defeat to Hartlepool United.

That afternoon he was one of Scunthorpe's better performers and he showed no signs of fatigue when his side beat Stevenage 1-0 three days later, a game in which Nolan's clever run down the right flank drew a visiting defender in the build-up to what proved to be United's winning goal.

It has been the former Blackburn trainee's first taste of first-team football since the final day of last season, after which he was released by previous United manager Alan Knill.

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His current boss at Glanford Park, Laws, has been impressed with his contribution.

“You wouldn't have known last Saturday was his first competitive game for nine months," Laws told the Telegraph.

“Credit to him, because he's done a lot of training on his own and has had to push himself really hard.

“It's really hard to get maximum output doing that.

“He's settled in really well, it's almost like he's never been away.

“He was a shining light in that team last weekend and that will give him great belief and confidence going into the next games."

Nolan was part of the Iron squad travelling down to London this afternoon for tomorrow's clash with Brentford.

His arrival - and versatility - has been timely for Laws, who is currently without left-back Callum Kennedy (hamstring injury) for at least another five weeks and first-choice right-back Christian Ribeiro is still short of match fitness as he recovers from a similar problem.

“When you look at the way we are at the moment, with the problems at full-back, Eddie is there to deal with that," added the United manager.

The Iron will hope he continues to do so in the same way as he has during the last week.