No excuses from Zak Whitbread after defeat on debut

Boss Micky Mellon gave the 31-year-old centre-back an immediate bow at Scunthorpe on Saturday when he brought him on for the tiring Ian Black.

Mellon wanted to add some physical presence in the middle of the park, but coming almost six months since his last outing, Whitbread looked rusty and Scunthorpe scored the winner within 18 minutes of his arrival.

"I'd never played in midfield before – but you could have stuck me up front or wide right, any of the lads would be prepared to do a job wherever," said Whitbread.

"I'm not making excuses because I've been around long enough and I should be able to do a job anywhere.

"But it took a while for me to get my bearings. It was a different challenge and unfortunately I didn't contribute as I'd have liked."

Whitbread's previous game was on April 18, for Derby, in a 4-4 draw against Huddersfield and he was relieved to be back in action.

"It was great to be involved in a competitive game - that's what you miss because the fire in your belly has been there for months now," he said.

"But the result was disappointing, especially after being ahead because we looked decent and in control."

The former Millwall, Leicester and Norwich stopper won't put a time limit on when he thinks he will be match-fit.

"We'll see how we go – I'm not putting too much pressure on myself because I only trained four days last week," he said.

"It was nice to get some minutes but going forwards, we'll see how I get on in training and assess it.

"Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later because I just want to get back playing regularly."

Whitbread however insisted his new team-mates must be more resolute.

"There was a 20-minute spell in the second half when they got the two goals and we just switched off," he said.