JORDAN Pickford shrugged off the late sickener that spoiled his Valley Parade wonder show and declared: It’s not the end of the world.

City’s on-loan keeper defied Scunthorpe with a string of superb saves in Saturday’s game – only to see a second successive clean sheet blown away deep in added time.

The Iron’s equaliser also cost Phil Parkinson’s side a play-off spot at Christmas. But they moved up to eighth as the 1-1 draw extended the current unbeaten streak to seven games.

Pickford said: “It shows we must be doing something right and we want to keep the run going.

“We’re in a good position there or thereabouts in the table and there’s not as much pressure on us. We’ll focus on our game and go from there.

“It’s a good point; it’s not a loss. We’re still unbeaten and it’s not the end of the world.”

Parkinson felt it was Pickford’s best performance for the club, although the Sunderland stopper played down his own heroics.

“It’s my job,” he added. “I like to do the best I can but obviously it’s disappointing not to get a clean sheet.

“I made some saves but it’s better if I’m quiet because then I know that everyone else is doing their jobs well.

“It was hard work and the pitch doesn’t help. It’s like sinking sand.

“The lads were trying to dig in to the last minute but it wasn’t a bad strike.”

Rory McArdle had fired City in front with his third goal of the season – curling a left-foot drive into the top corner. He earned lavish praise from his boss.

Parkinson said: “His performance was as good as you’ll see from a centre half. It shows what he is all about and that’s supreme athleticism.

“His recovery challenges were absolutely outstanding as well as his goal. What a great finish that was.

“I’m really pleased for Roz. He’s got three goals now and he always looks like scoring.

“You’ve got to feel for Jordan because that was probably his best game for us.

“Jordan’s a very good keeper. If you go back over previous games, he’s had very little to do.

“He made a very good save at Chesterfield but go back to the Gillingham game, when we conceded late. That was the only chance they had.

“This was different and you’ve got to give Scunthorpe credit because they played well.”

The visitors, who have lost only once in 12 games under Mark Robins, bossed the second half and City were penned in for long periods.

It looked like they would hold on until sub Hakeeb Adelakun struck in the third minute of stoppage time.

Parkinson added: “We were under pressure. When we won the ball back, we were almost too tired from defending that we couldn’t keep it.

“We’re on a terrific run, so are Scunthorpe. They are a good team who have spent money on strikers – they’ve got quality and it showed.

“We all enjoy the victories together, we’ve got to take the disappointment together. That’s the way football is.

“Sometimes you think the supporters don’t feel it hurts the players and the manager as much. I can tell you it was an absolutely crushing blow.

“But we can’t take it away from Scunthorpe because they played terrifically well in that second period.”

City will monitor Billy Clarke after the strike took a knock on the medial ligament in his knee.