When Graham Alexander took control at Scunthorpe United nine games from the end of last season one eye was already trained on how to improve a stagnant team during the summer. Simultaneously, though, the former right-back guided The Iron, in 13th when he was named as Mark Robins’s replacement, to seven wins and a draw, leaving them with a decent shout of what had, a few weeks earlier, seemed an unlikely play-off place, going into the final game.
It did not quite work out pipped by the eventually-promoted Barnsley, but their impressive form has continued and a team who have too often specialised in the mundane sit pretty on top of League One. The tempestuous 2-1 triumph on Saturday at Bury, who were second before kick-off and won every fixture last month, may have been the sweetest yet.
Their hero, once again, was one of Alexander’s summer additions. Josh Morris is the leading goalscorer in Europe. Disrupted by injuries, the left-winger found the net only once at Bradford last season. This time round he has a dozen.
His winner here, at a time where the hosts were finding opportunities easier to come by, was probably the pick of the bunch: 25 yards from goal he took a heavy first touch after receiving a pass from Scott Wiseman but swung a spellbinding curler into the top left corner of Ben Williams’s goal. “It’s up there with my best, especially considering the circumstances,” Morris said. “It was a tough game for us because we had our backs to the wall for a period.”
Morris is playing as if he has a point to prove. Struggles at Valley Parade aside, the 24-year-old is driven by life at Blackburn, the club he joined as a 12-year-old, not turning out as planned. “There’s nothing worse than not playing football,” he said. “This year the main thing was for me to get back playing.”
Before his moment of genius Bury were buzzing following Tom Soares’s equaliser. Their position in the table has been a little more surprising. Equidistant between the play-offs and relegation last season, they inflicted a 4-1 thumping of Port Vale on 3 September that kick-started a run of five wins in a row and brought in their biggest crowd of the season here, with the sense of excitement noticeable before kick-off. There was a raucous atmosphere from the off and the game was similarly frantic, even if clear-cut chances were not exactly plentiful.
Scunthorpe went in front with their first attempt on target in the 42nd minute. For once Wiseman was not foolish to rush in. Coming back into the team after being dropped in midweek, the Gibraltar defender was most alert in nosebleed territory when arriving to turn home Tom Hopper’s ball across the face of goal.
It shocked Bury into life and at various points the game threatened to boil over with neither afraid to get stuck in. The referee, David Webb, tried to let the action flow but several hefty challenges went unpunished and he was met by scathing invective from the home support when heading down the tunnel at the break flanked by two burly security guards.
The Shakers, somewhat depleted and giving a first start to the Manchester City loanee Kean Bryan, looked the better team after half-time and deserved to equalise. Soares, who had earlier picked up his fifth yellow of the season, bundled home Zeli Ismail’s cross after getting in front of David Mirfin.
Morris would have the final say, however. Flitcroft called him the “league’s outstanding player at the moment” but said: “We did enough to not lose the game; we’ve done enough to win it. The stats will say we edged it but stats are no good.”
Talking points
• Tony Xia will not see another Aston Villa game in person until next month but the video evidence of Saturday’s surrender at Preston was sufficient for the owner to get rid of Roberto Di Matteo. Last week the manager had promised a top-six finish but losing 2-0 at Deepdale with a squad containing £50m of his own signings was just not good enough. Even worse is one win from 11. But who should replace Di Matteo in a position that is not exactly the most attractive proposition?
• It seems a lot longer than eight weeks ago but Fulham are a shadow of the side that dazzled on opening night against Newcastle. Slavisa Jokanovic said “he accepts responsibility” after a 2-1 loss to QPR that also saw Sone Aluko miss a last-minute penalty stretched their run without a win to seven. The Cottagers have gone from the play-off places to 14th in a couple of weeks and soon serious questions will be asked of the manager’s ability to guide them forward.
• There is a similarly alarming run of form in south-east London. After going close to an immediate Championship return last season, much was expected of Neil Harris’s Millwall this time. The ante-post favourites, however, have lost four in a row, the latest coming at Walsall. They have scored in every game but have not kept a clean sheet since the opening day win over Oldham – not a bad shout for those inclined to place a few quid on the both-teams-to-score market.
• While Morris shone at Gigg Lane, the day’s other big EFL star was Cambridge United’s goalkeeper Will Norris. Leading 2-1 against Accrington in his 50th appearance for the club, he saved two injury-time penalties from Terry Gornell. Piero Mingoia’s winning volley was well worth a watch, too.
• The weather has not yet turned and Newport have already had two games postponed due to the pitch at Rodney Parade being waterlogged. It does not bode well, especially when the Dragons play rugby union on it every second week. Also spare a thought for Stevenage, who found out 90 minutes before kick-off that there would be no play.
