Roy McFarland praised the tremendous spirit of his injury ravaged side after a second successive 3-0 victory and the third win in the last four away matches.

"We've done what we wanted to do by drawing Scunthorpe into the relegation fight, and now we have the chance on Saturday to do the same to Wrexham," he told the Cambridge Evening News.

Special praise was reserved for striker Trevor Benjamin, who has blossomed since being handed the central striking role previously occupied by Martin Butler, and midfielders Ian Ashbee and Paul Wanless. "I tried to sign Scunthorpe's Chris Hope last year," said the manager. "He's a good centre-half, but he couldn't cope with Trevor and John Taylor.

"I talked with Trevor about taking over Martin Butler's role as an influential player and fans' favourite, and he's growing into it. He played a big part in a very good team display in which we showed a lot of spirit that, for me, was epitomised by Ian Ashbee in midfield, where he and Paul Wanless controlled the game."

After Benjamin's latest performance Chairman Reg Smart has indicated that it will take a club record fee to prise the 21-year-old away from the Abbey Stadium. The current record is the £1m paid by Manchester United for Dion Dublin, and Smart stated, "It was a great team performance and Trevor was unstoppable.

"Liverpool have paid £11m for Emile Heskey, so you have to wonder what Trevor is going to be worth. We are going to keep him as long as we can, though, and if anybody wants to take him away I'm sure we'll be talking seven figures."

Scunthorpe manager Brian Laws admitted after seeing his team dragged back into relegation danger, "We were rattled, and there aren't many teams in this division who ought to be able to do that to us. Cambridge have hit form, Benjamin was at his best, and they gave us a battering. I reckon we should have had a penalty early on, but I can't use that as an excuse for 3-0 at home."