Last updated on .From the section Football

Manager Alan Knill says Scunthorpe's difficult start to the season has been put into perspective after he almost suffered serious injury when his bicycle collided with a squirrel.

The Iron have lost their last six matches and are bottom of League One.

Football's famous animals 'Triggs' - Roy Keane's Labrador retriever shot to national attention as he was walked relentlessly after his owner pulled out of the 2002 World Cup. 'The Anfield Cat' - Got on the pitch during Liverpool's goalless draw with Tottenham in February. The cat's spoof Twitter account has nearly 75,000 followers. 'The Blackburn chicken' - Dressed in Blackburn colours, the chicken was thrown onto the pitch in protest against Venky's - Blackburn's chicken processing owners - as Rovers were beaten 1-0 by Wigan to confirm relegation in May. 'Pickles' - The four-year-old mongrel found the Jules Rimet Trophy after it was stolen three months before the 1966 World Cup.

But it could have been worse for Knill before the 2-1 defeat to Notts County.

"I got hit by a squirrel. I went over the top of my bike and landed on my head, shoulder and neck," Knill told BBC Radio Humberside.

"I saw it run into the road but couldn't do anything about it and it just hit my wheel and stuck in my wheel and hit my brakes.

"For a minute, I thought I might have been in trouble because I landed on my head. Then, all of a sudden, I thought: 'I'm not, I'm alive!'"

A witness called an ambulance but Knill escaped with cuts and bruises.

He added: "Fortunately my collar bone is OK but I am pretty bruised. I could be dead and it's so stupid. I'm not and you have to put things into perspective."

Discussing his side's predicament, Knill added: "The situation we're in at the moment, I don't cherish, but there are worse situations."