But the Iron were given a real fright by the League Two outfit, who led through Richard Butcher until conceding two goals in a dramatic finish in stoppage time.

Striker Paul Hayes grabbed both the goals to spare Scunthorpe's blushes.

In the first minute of stoppage time he equalised with a header from United's 16th corner of the game and two minutes later he struck again with another close-range header after some poor defensive play by County.

"I had never given up hope of us getting back into the game," insisted Adkins. "My team is full of character and this is a competition that we want to try and win.

"I don't know how many chances we created and I know we forced 16 corners. I think in the end on the balance of play we certainly deserved to win it."