Oh dear. Things are not going to plan. The typical curse has struck one again; a devastating injury list, red cards, and the concession of late goals. Are we the only fans that suffer this? It seems that way at times.

Yet it could have been such a different story if the proceedings at Walsall from 3:10pm to 4:45pm had gone the same way as the ten minutes prior to that. Leading within the opening two minutes thanks to Garry Thompson's first strike for the club, a neat header from an excellent Kevan Hurst cross, Scunthorpe looked firmly on course for their first three points of the season.

Not so. David Mirfin, the new signing from Huddersfield who was filling in at centre-back in the absence of Kenny Milne decided to announce his arrival in some style. He made a hash of a routine clearance which released a Walsall striker through on goal. 1-1 surely? Oh no. Mirfin's nightmare début was soon drawn to an abrupt end as he tangled with the burly front man and brought him down. A clear goalscoring opportunity denied. An inevitable conclusion; the referee brandished the red card and off went Mirfin for a very early bath. A catastrophe of epic proportions. Okay, at least we've got a lead to hold onto, albeit for 80 minutes. No. 80 seconds more like. Mirfin won't have even turned the taps on before he heard the roar of the Saddlers faithful as they stood to salute Marco Reich's rocket that soared into the corner from the resultant free kick. In fairness, it was a top drawer effort, and Josh Lillis could do little to prevent it. Fine, sometimes it's just not your day and you have to deal with it. Stand tall in the face of adversity.

United dug in. A point will do here thought I, along with probably a large majority of Iron fans. With the clock slowly winding down, it looked as though we'd done enough to secure the point. A respectable one in the circumstances. Then I remembered, I support Scunthorpe United. As the fourth official tapped the buttons on his electronic board, Izzy got himself in a tizzy. The Walsall attacking line waved their magic wand. Jabo Ibehre found himself with the ball in a mysteriously offside looking position. The linesman didn't flinch, the flag stayed down. Ibehre bared down on goal. Bang. 2-1. Heartbreak. The late goal curse strikes again. All the good work down the drain.

So still no win, still no points, and now no defenders. Milne looks set to be out until Christmas with his knee problem. Izzy has been sent for a scan, also with a knee complaint. Andy Crosby is still a way off being ready for first team duty. And Mirfin will also miss out on Saturday through a one match suspension accruedfrom his red card at the Bescot. That's hardly an ideal scenario given the attacking threat that will be posed by our opponents at the weekend, Peterborough. Aaron Mclean was League Two's top scorer last season and is partnered by Craig Mackail-Smith who bagged four in one game in last year's FA Cup. Add to that the skill of winger George Boyd who also chips in with plenty of goals, and it seems we may have our hands full.

My university flatmate Sam (please note, this is a different Sam to the Grimsby fan I have spoken of previously!) is a regular on the terraces at London Road, and she assures me that on their day, these three can win any game. Sam will be sampling the delights of Glanford Park this weekend so I'll welcome her here, but I hope to high heaven that she'll be leaving the ground in the same manner I did two weeks ago; frustrated and disappointed after a defeat!

Quite who will line up against the Posh is a matter of question at the minute. Without the four centre backs, Cliff Byrne will move across to centre back and may be accompanied by Krystian Pearce the youngster signed on loan from Birmingham on Tuesday. There are also question marks over the fitness of Paul Hayes and Grant McCann, so the squad is already thread bare at this early stage of the season!

That may pave the way for Jon Forte to be given another chance after he grabbed a hat trick in the reserves during their 8-0 win over York City on Tuesday. Martyn Woolford may also be given a chance after grabbing a brace in that game, and there was a fitness boost as Joe Murphy managed to get 45 minutes under his belt.

Hopefully the team that is sent out will be able to get the victory we need to really kick start the season. Losing can become just as much of a habit as winning, so it's important that we don't get stuck in a rut that we can't get out of. The league table already makes for sorry reading, lets not get caught up in another relegation battle. Cheer on the boys this weekend and inspire them to a much needed win that will begin our ascent up the league ladder.

By Carl MacDonald