Championship PodJockey Chris Ray gives his regular listeners a bit of background behind their Martin Paterson feature and wonders if the recently capped Northern Ireland international can fire Scunthorpe to Championship safety.

Regular listeners to our Championship FanCast will be all too aware of our 'Martin Paterson Update of the Week' feature - the only one that has lasted us all season thus far I might add! - but what you may not be aware of is how it all came about. 

The story begins on a cold Wednesday night at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium back in 2005 as the Potters' reserve side took on Huddersfield. A 2-0 win for the home side saw one stand out player (no prizes for guessing who!) 

Paterson had made his first team debut for Stoke in the April of that year, but failed to make a start until March 2006, scoring his first senior goal later that year. A loan spell at Grimsby followed before we once again saw him in action for Stoke's second string, making a goal scoring impact despite a 4-1 defeat to Shrewsbury. 

It came as little surprise when he moved on in the summer of 2007, and he hasn't looked back since joining Scunthorpe, scoring 14 goals and making his international debut for Northern Ireland. 

When initially putting together the show, whilst discussing potential feature pieces, we decided to follow an individual across the season, tracking his progress, Paterson, given our views of him so far on a smaller stage, was an obvious and unanimous choice. 

The feature has gone on to have press on the Scunthorpe website and in the match day magazine, while Isaac managed to get in touch with the man himself with an interview in mind. 

One of our highlights of the season was meeting 'Pato' at Glanford Park following Scunny's 3-1 defeat to Watford, a game in which he was unlucky to hit the post for the home side. 

That day I tipped him to score 15+ for Scunny, and with 11 games still remaining, he's looking a safe bet to hit that target, eclipsing the form of former Iron Billy Sharp, now with faltering Sheffield United, in the process. 

With the club still languishing in the relegation zone, the fight to stay in the Championship may prove a fruitless one for Scunthorpe, but if they are to stay among the Football League's elite, the impact of Paterson will surely be acknowledge by those outside of North Lincolnshire. 

His goal against Coventry at the weekend showed the undoubted quality of the man, and with fellow Championship club's alerted to his ability and eye for goal in a struggling side, Scunthorpe may lose more than just their Championship status if they finish in the bottom three. 

We've covered everything 'Pato' related this season, from every one of his goals, including doubles against Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich, to the tribunal which (eventually!) settled his transfer fee, a mere 5 months after his move, and everything in between.  

They'll be far more to come from the 'Martin Paterson Update of the Week' this season as he looks to fire Scunthorpe to safety, so make sure you listen to the weekly Championship FanCast for your fix of all things Pato, as well as much more!
 

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