"There was a resilience and a steel about us," says Halifax boss Millington after win at Scunthorpe

The Shaymen beat Scunthorpe 2-0 thanks to goals in each half from Kian Spence and Jordan Slew.

"I thought the game wasn't dissimilar to Notts County really, we started off with a game-plan, we effected it well," Millington said.

"I think we controlled the first-half how we'd hope to.

"Second-half, clearly they came out and had the bit between their teeth, chasing the game and I thought they played some good football and became a greater threat.

"But we also recognised that there were some players who had been keen to the positives out of Saturday and key to the performance today who had played a lot of minutes in a short space of time, and we knew they were going to fade in the second-half, and they did.

"The plan was, once that happened, with the bodies we had on the bench, to go to a 4-3-3.

"We knew with the players that were coming on that we'd carry a threat on the counter-attack and fortunately that's the way it panned out.

"But every player has contributed today, we've had Sam Johnson making saves, we've had Jesse Debrah making a last-ditch block, we've had forwards scrapping to get hold of the ball and get us up the pitch.

"A midfielder in Kian Spence scoring the goal and then subs coming on and all three of them having a contribution, with Jordan Slew finishing the game off for us."

When asked how important it was that Town won the game, Millington said: "Very important. Two teams came into the game with a run of form that can cause issues with confidence and make you a bit fragile.

"So off the back of a 4-1 defeat it was vital that we started well, it was started that we had confidence in the game-plan and it was really crucial that we effected that game-plan as well as we possibly could, and thankfully we've managed to do that."

Millington felt his side stuck to their game-plan and showed admirable resolve.

"The games in recent weeks have showed us how important it is to have that resilience in those moments where other teams are in the ascendancy," he said.

"In probably all of the games so far this season, maybe other than Barnet, we've had periods where we've been quite comfortable, we've had periods where we've been more than comfortable and we've also had periods in all the games where the other team have had an element of control.

"It's when the opposition have those times that we remain resilient, we remain calm and we stick to the game-plan.

"I think we did that really well today. We talk about earning the result in the changing room and that's what the lads did through those challenging periods within the game, there was a resilience and a steel about us that led to us earning the result."

And his side took the lead in a game for the first time this season thanks to Spence's opener.

"Getting the first goal's important. If you don't get that then the longer the game goes on, the more nervous you become," Millington said.

"Having said that, we got the first goal and Scunthorpe seemed to grow in confidence and it seemed to put a little bit more in their step.

"Clearly we don't want to go behind, that's something we're striving to rectify and make sure the game stays 0-0 rather than us going behind."

Captain Tom Clarke wasn't involved for The Shaymen.

"I had a chat with Tom before the Notts County game and we know it would have been a challenge for him to get two 90 minutes under his belt in three days," Millington said.

"So the plan was made at the end of last week that he would only play in one of these games over the weekend, and we thought he'd be more important for us in the Notts County game."

Read more from the Town boss on injuries, his squad and on Saturday's game with Maidenhead on the Courier website later this week.