Skipper Paul Reid was a big miss for Scunthorpe United so Iron hope he will face Stevenage
THE absence of club captain Paul Reid was a huge factor in Scunthorpe United’s first home defeat in six games, according to Brian Laws.
So the Iron boss, who missed the 2-1 loss to Hartlepool United with a virus, is hoping the dependable defender recovers in time to face Stevenage tomorrow night.
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Scunthorpe United have been unbeaten in two thirds of the matches in which Paul Reid has played this season.
Laws is a big fan of Reid’s leadership and organisational qualities and felt Scunthorpe were a poorer team for being without the centre-back’s voice as well as his no-nonsense approach to defending.
The Iron have lost only six times in the 18 League One games Reid has played this season – the first chunk of which was wrecked by a hand injury – making his return for the visit of Boro even more important.
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“I think the result says he was a big loss for us,” said Laws, in the wake of United’s defeat to Pools.
“His leadership has been excellent and his organisation and communication is very, very good.
He was sadly missed.
“We were a quiet back four again and that's not something I like.
“It was a tough one to lose him, but we've still got players that can do a job, for sure.
“I just felt (on Saturday) that the back four became too deep against a lone striker and the two full-backs ended up being even deeper. We couldn’t get far enough up the field to support our strikers
Laws added on Reid: “Fingers crossed, we hope he’ll be okay for Tuesday.
“I’m sure he’ll be up for the battle of it. If not, we’ll go with what we’ve got.”
The Iron have also had to assess the extent of the knock Mark Duffy suffered against Hartlepool United.
The former Morecambe winger was clattered by visiting midfielder Simon Walton in the second half of the clash, a challenge for which Walton was booked.
Duffy is another key figure in the Iron team, especially when it comes to providing service to the front two – as he proved in the latter stages of Saturday’s game.
“I thought he was coming off but to be fair to him he responded really well,” Laws said of the Scouser.
“It was a heavy challenge, but he got back up and didn’t sulk about it.
“He worked extremely hard to get us back into the game and his contribution towards the goal (he put in the cross from which James Alabi headed home) was really important. Fair play to him.”
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