Scunthorpe manager Neil Cox hailed his side’s fighting spirit as they came from behind to start the Sky Bet League Two season with a point against Newport.

The Exiles went in front in the 32nd minute when Ryan Taylor appeared to get the final touch to a scrappy goal, but Ryan Loft’s thundering strike in the second half meant honours finished even.

“The first half I thought looked a bit like pre-season, and we gave a poor goal away,” said Cox, who took over at the Sands Venue Stadium in the summer.

“Every time we broke forward the ball kept coming back, which is why we had to change it a little bit.

“But I was pleased with the way we came out for the second half, dug in and defended set-plays. Everyone stood up to be counted and I thought we definitely deserved a point.

“We might even have nicked it at the end, but I think the fitter we get the better we’ll get. The second-half performance was excellent.

“When I came in I said we would have a good go and play high, attacking football and when players don’t take me literally, I think teams will find us difficult to play.

“People might say we’ll get bullied, but in the second half today we showed we can stand up to that.”

Newport broke the deadlock on the back of great work by Josh Sheehan, who drove into the area from the left and squared across the six-yard box.

Taylor and Tristan Abrahams both peeled away in celebration as the ball flicked up and into the back of the net, but regardless of who got the final touch, it was no more than the Exiles deserved.

That was, though, as good as it got for the visitors, who could do little to stop Loft’s 30-yard strike flying into the top corner in the 58th minute.

“It was a great strike, but I was disappointed with the amount of space he had,” Newport boss Mike Flynn said of the home side’s equaliser.

“It was two points dropped for us. In the first half we should have scored a few more and we were really slow to start the second half, which was frustrating.

“We definitely should have won the game, but we at least we come away from a long trip with a point.

“We have just got to get that finishing touch and a killer instinct. On a different day we’d have come away with three points and everybody is cheering, but we’ll dust ourselves down to go again.”