The Sky Bet League One campaign takes a break in midweek, when the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy takes place.
The visitors are last year’s finalists, Chesterfield, who were beaten by Peterborough at Wembley.Bobby Olejnik is expected to continue in the Glanford Park goal in place of the injured Sam Slocombe and James Severn.
Deon Burton, David Mirfin and Dave Syers are out with long-term injuries, while Russ Wilcox will assess his squad for niggles and issues from the 2-1 Sky Bet League One win over Walsall.
It’s a tough home draw for Scunthorpe, who failed to reach the second round in last season’s competition, as we were knocked out by Sheffield United in the opening round at Glanford Park, on penalties, after a 0-0 draw.
United did make an appearance in the final of the competition in 2009, though, when Luton beat us after extra-time.
Gary Hooper put us into an early lead and Grant McCann’s late equaliser took the game beyond 90 minutes, where Claude Gnakpa won it for the Hatters. Chesterfield previously won the competition in 2012- the same year they were relegated.
The fixture pairs uswith Paul Cook’s Spireites, who were promoted with the Iron from Sky Bet League Two in 2013/14.
The Derbyshire club were champions of the division, as the Iron finished three points behind and runners up on the final day of the campaign.
Our two meetings in the league saw us draw 1-1 on both occasions.
Luke Waterfall’s late header at the Proact Stadium salvaged a point last November and Sam Winnall’s opening strike was cancelled out by a Eoin Doyle penalty at Glanford Park.
It represents the 54th meeting between the two sides, with Scunthorpe winning 16, drawing 15 and losing 22 times.
Our visitors have settled well to life back in the third tier, collecting ten points from their opening five games.
They started the season with a credible 2-1 win on the road at Leyton Orient, before losing 5-3 to Huddersfield in the Capital One Cup. They then beat fellow promoted side Rochdale at the Proact before losing 1-0 to MK Dons. A draw with Fleetwood and win over Port Vale on Saturday has seen them rise to fifth in the league and Cook’s men will be looking to build on their impressive form.
If selected, Saturday’s goalscorer Gary McSheffrey will be playing against his former club- he played 12 times for them last season before joining the Claret and Blue in January.
Chesterfield, around an hour’s journey from Glanford Park, return to League One after relegation in 2012.
They are managed by Paul Cook, who has over 600 appearances as a player and eight years of management under his belt.
He joined Chesterfield from Accrington in 2012 and his two years with Chesterfield has seen a great improvement, with the Spireites playing an attractive brand of football which ultimately got them out of League Two last season.
Their squad includes a few former Irons too - Jimmy Ryan, current PFA Chairman Ritchie Humphreys and Drew Talbot.
It promises to be a tight affair as the sides look to balance a demanding fixture list in the season’s opening weeks, which has seen games in the league, Capital One Cup and JPT take place.
See our betting preview for the league’s official sponsor’s betting markets for the game.
If you can’t make it to Glanford Park for the Football League Trophy fixture, keep track of the action by tuning into the club’s official social media channels or keep an eye on events on the website, with live updates available from kick-off.