BY HIS own admission, Matt Sparrow is lucky to have a second shot at proving himself in the Championship.

But with more than a third of the season already gone, he concedes the jury is still out on whether that will happen.

Two years ago, as Scunthorpe United struggled at this level, so did the 28-year-old.

He played in every match until the middle of October before drifting in and out of the first-team fold, managing a run of just four consecutive matches at best as his side became entrenched in the relegation zone.

With that in mind, the Brigg raised midfielder was desperate to ensure he put the record straight during the current campaign.

"There are a few reasons why it didn't really happen for me last time we were at this level, but I don't want to make excuses, I just didn't perform to the best of my ability," he admitted to the Telegraph in the build-up to the season's opener at Cardiff.

"Luckily I've got another shot at it, so I want to prove I'm good enough. But I know only time will tell whether that's the case."

The clock, he frustratingly admits, is still ticking.

Yet there is still time to achieve an aim that would prove the final strip in what has been a Roy of the Rovers story-line.

Look back at his career and Sparrow appears to epitomise everything about the Iron's recent history.

He is the local lad who was nurtured through the club's youth ranks to play football in the lower divisions, but one who has stepped up to the plate and played a massive part in their rise up the league ladder.

He was granted a testimonial at the beginning of May, to mark his 10 years' service at Glanford Park, and, only a matter of weeks later, scored two goals at Wembley to help book Scunthorpe a return to the second tier in May's League One play-off final.

Few fans could have picked a better hero.

Indeed, even his team-mates recognise the romance, serenading him with a song of 'he's one of our own' at their end of season awards night.

For those reasons, Sparrow is understandably desperate to prove his worth to the United cause at their current standard.

And despite his first-team frustrations this year, it is a challenge the midfielder, out of contract in the summer, is confident he can realise – if only to make it into a 12th Iron campaign.

"Leaving has never entered my head," Sparrow told the Telegraph, after starting only seven of the Iron's 16 league games this year.

"There are a lot of us out of contract at the end of the season and I know you need to be playing football when that's the case, especially when January comes, because then you've only got a few months left to prove you're worthy of another contract.

"Whether it's here or somewhere else, you just want to be playing games.

"I want a new deal here. I've been here 11 years now and it would be great to stay on, but I know I've got to prove myself.

"No player likes to be playing one game and then missing a couple, so I need to get that consistency to get a run of games.

"Then hopefully I can prove to the gaffer that I'm worthy of starting every game.

"I'm confident I can do that. I know I work hard and while I probably should chip in with a few more goals, hopefully I'll be in the gaffer's thoughts."