BRIAN Laws says he is remaining 'calm and relaxed' about his future as manager of Scunthorpe United, despite increasing pressure following the club's FA Cup first round exit at the hands of Grimsby Town.
A section of Iron fans made their feelings on the situation clear at the end of the 2-1 defeat at Glanford Park chanting 'Lawsy, Lawsy time to go' in the direction of their boss.
Although United's display was arguably their best in a run of five games without a victory, Laws accepts he is working in a results based business.
He remained defiant though that he can get the 'right things' out of a squad still badly lacking a cutting edge and pace and flair going forward.
"I have 46 games of pressure. This is no different," Laws told the Telegraph.
"Every manager knows it is part of the game and if I start worrying about being under pressure it's not going to help anybody.
"It's about calm heads and I'm very calm and relaxed at the moment.
"I can say I know I'll get the right things out of the players to have a reasonably good season."
Having trailed to Lennell John-Lewis' smart finish inside 10 minutes, Scunthorpe equalised just seconds into the second half when Terry Hawkridge's shot squirmed over the line.
They were level though for little over 10 minutes when Hawkridge was penalised for a foul on the left hand touchline and Scott Kerr swung in a free-kick from which giant defender Clayton McDonald headed in.
Although pleased with the speed at which United piled forward – having called on his side to up the tempo on the back of the weekend's woeful first-half display in their 2-0 loss to Accrington Stanley – Laws agreed it was in the final third where his side had again fallen short.
He did though feel some of the criticism being levelled at the Iron from the terraces was harsh
"People will look at the result and say it is disappointing and unacceptable - I hear these words coming out of people," said the 52-year-old, who began his managerial career in charge of the Mariners.
"Had we performed like that against Accrington on Saturday we would have won, so there has been a good reaction.
"I would say in the first half on Saturday it was an unacceptable level of effort and performance we showed.
"But when you see commitment, desire and the players giving their all (like was the case tonight) there has to be a level of acceptance. You have to give them credit for that.
"Unfortunately in the final third of the pitch we didn't quite match everything else. But we camped in their half and Grimsby had to defend in numbers. When you've got something to hang on to, it helps.
"We gave ourselves a real shot in the arm with our start to the second half but we needed to maintain that for a little bit longer and the fact that we gifted them a stupid free-kick was disappointing and cost us dearly.
"There was enough in the game to suggest we've got something in the tank and that was the tempo we've got to play at from now on – especially at home.
"We got the ball into the box more times than I've seen for five or six games.
"Nobody likes a defeat, especially when it's in a local derby, but if we perform like that for the rest of the season we'll win more games."Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
