LOUIS Carey's first thought was for friend and colleague Keith Millen after City's faint play-off hopes were consigned to dust at Glanford Park.

Although results elsewhere served to render City's chances of gate-crashing the Championship's top six notional, the captain was nevertheless bitterly disappointed that Millen's spell as caretaker manager should come to an end in such a limp fashion.

Unbeaten in six games under Gary Johnson's former assistant, the Robins banished fears of a prolonged battle against relegation and established themselves as challengers to promotion contenders Swansea, Blackpool and Middlesbrough.

But Gary Hooper's hat-trick put paid to any lingering hope that City might emulate their achievement of two seasons ago, when they reached the play-off final, and served to spoil Millen's hitherto unblemished record.

Defeat in Lincolnshire will hasten the arrival of the new manager and Millen will almost certainly find himself in a different role when Derby County visit Ashton Gate next weekend.

"It's a shame we couldn't have kept the unbeaten run going for Keith," admitted centre-back Carey.

"We wanted him to finish his stint on a high note and we were determined to keep our play-off hopes alive for him.

"I feel personally disappointed, because I've known Keith for a long time, first as a player and then as a coach and manager.

"He has done a brilliant job since taking over and it would have been nice for him had he been able to stay unbeaten. I know I feel gutted for him and so do the rest of the lads."

This comprehensive defeat may serve as a wake-up call for those City supporters who harboured delusions of grandeur in the wake of a revitalising sequence of four wins and two draws following the departure of previous first team boss Johnson, but as far as Carey is concerned, it was a calamity waiting to happen.

Reasonably self-assured when playing in a 3-5-2 system, City's players seem to lose the plot as a defensive unit when deployed in a more conventional 4-4-2 formation and this was the latest in a series of hefty defeats this season. Although Millen has presided over a short-term improvement in terms of goals conceded, the defensive frailties which have become a recurring theme in recent months must necessarily be addressed during the summer.

Carey said: "We always knew there was a lot of work still to be done. We have lost too easily away from home at times this season and have let in too many soft goals.

"Just because we have been better recently, does not mean the problem has gone away. It's something we really do need to look at and work on before the start of next season."

This slaughter in the sun was a case in point. Scunthorpe fans will justifiably talk up the abilities of their 17-goal leading scorer, but Carey and Co will argue that Hooper should never have been permitted the time and space he was allowed to poach a match-winning hat-trick in 50 minutes.

"He's a good player and his movement is decent, but all three goals were bad ones to concede from a defender's point of view," confirmed Carey.

"We've not cleared our lines and been too hesitant for the first two goals and then the third one has come from a long ball played straight down the middle. That should never happen."

Ironically, previous City boss Johnson enquired as to Hooper's availability during the January transfer window and was put off by a Scunthorpe board of directors that quoted him telephone numbers.

On the evidence of this high-octane performance, the Iron may be hard-pressed to retain their prized asset this summer. No matter that City youngster Christian Ribeiro lost his man for the first goal on 19 minutes, Hooper's positional sense and ability to judge his arrival to perfection meant he was in the right place at the right time to turn in Matt Sparrow's deep cross at the far post.

Danny Haynes twice threatened to conjure an equaliser, forcing Iron keeper Joe Murphy into smart saves to keep out a fierce shot and a glancing header, but there was only ever going to be one outcome once Hooper doubled his tally 10 minutes into the second half.

City failed to clear another ball played high into their penalty area and Hooper, displaying notable physical strength to hold off the robust Bradley Orr, turned on a proverbial sixpence to steer his shot beyond unsighted goalkeeper Stephen Henderson and just inside the far post.

His third goal will make painful viewing when City's players watch the video re-run later today.

Black-shirted defenders were flummoxed by a crude punt down the middle of the field and Hooper showed Lewin Nyatanga a clean pair of heels before rounding the stranded Henderson and rolling the ball into an unprotected net.

Had it not been for Henderson's heroics – the Irishman pulled off numerous startling saves – City might easily have sustained damage on a similar scale to that inflicted by Cardiff and Doncaster earlier this year.