Hat-trick hero Dean Windass today deflected the personal praise by insisting that Craig Bentham was the real star of the show against Scunthorpe.

Windass celebrated his return from a five-game ban with the seventh treble of his career - and second of the season - as City recorded their biggest home win for a year.

It was the perfect way to mark his 37th birthday but the striker felt substitute Bentham, playing for the first time in a year, deserved the plaudits.

Colin Todd threw on the young midfielder along with Ben Muirhead at half-time and the double switch transformed the game.

Windass said: "Craig Bentham was my man of the match because he was absolutely magnificent. He was the difference because he gave us the energy which we needed.

"Strikers will get the glory and all the headlines but I thought Craig was fantastic. He made tackles, never gave the ball away and was so hungry.

"And Ben put us on the front foot as well. If he can show more consistency, he'll destroy teams in this league playing like that.

"At 2-1 down I feared the worst but the substitutions changed the game. We got better balls into our feet and created a lot of good chances."

Windass boosted his own goal tally to 19 - and admits he will now be raising his scoring sights for the rest of the season.

"I wanted to get to 20 but now it's got to be 25," he added. "There are six games to go and the pressure is on.

"But you dream of scoring a hat-trick on your birthday, whether you're 21 or 37. It was an unbelievable feeling."

Todd praised his side's second-half recovery to claim back-to-back wins at Valley Parade for the first time this

season. And he endorsed the praise for Bentham.

The City boss said: "Craig set a good tempo, he broke up attacks and passed the ball very well.

"We played two touches in training on Friday and I thought then that his passing had been the best for a while and he took that on.

"I had to do something at half-time because standards had to improve. There was a lack of cohesion and togetherness, which is unusual for us.

"With the introduction of Bentham and Ben Muirhead we started to play into our strikers, passed the ball better and played with real drive.

"The game wasn't just about Dean but on his birthday it was a great response."