MIDFIELD man Sam Togwell admits Scunthorpe United's relegation fate is not entirely in their own hands.

But he believes last Saturday's 2-1 triumph at Selhurst Park will have seriously cranked up the pressure on his old club Crystal Palace – the team the Iron are trying desperately to catch.

PASS MASTERS: Sam Togwell believes the Iron's desire to get back to playing passing football is behind their renewed fight against relegation. Picture: Carl Gac.

And he feels United are now playing well enough to make the great escape a real possibility.

"It was a massive result for us at Palace," said Togwell.

"It was a performance from us that had everything and showed how much it means for us to stay in this division.

"We deserved the victory because we were the better team.

"We have now put together three good performances on the trot – and we will continue to do that until the end of the season.

"We were better than QPR when we beat them, for an hour we were better than Reading and we were certainly better than Palace.

"Hopefully our win on Saturday will have shot their (Palace's) confidence.

"They go to Doncaster on Friday who are also looking over their shoulders.

"Depending on the result there, maybe Doncaster will find themselves sucked into relegation trouble too."

Togwell believes it's a return to Scunthorpe's old values which have sparked a turnaround in fortunes since Alan Knill arrived as the new manager – and prevented a club record 10th successive away defeat.

Knill's approach is less negative than what United had become under the previous regime.

"I liked Ian Baraclough and his staff, but the way they wanted us to play is different to what the new gaffer and his staff want," said Togwell.

"I think that the key is we are playing passing football again.

"The performance at Palace was more like the way we were playing earlier in the season.

"We were flying at the start of the season and hopefully now we will be flying again at the end of it."

Togwell hopes too, like the bus theory, that now United have ended their losing sequence on their travels, another away win will quickly follow at Coventry on Good Friday.

"I hope that will be the case, and given the way we played at Crystal Palace – why not?" he asked.

"The gaffer has got us working really hard in training and I think that is being reflected in what we are doing on the pitch.

"We have always believed in the dressing room that we have a squad that is good enough to stay in the Championship."

Friday's game at the Ricoh Arena will be Togwell's 100th league start for United.