The Iron made it three wins in a row and lifted themselves out of the relegation zone after beating Coventry City 2-1 at Glanford Park.

Midfielder James Perch found the bottom right corner via a deflection to give United the victory in the 67th minute.

Levi Sutton then scored his first ever professional goal with a lovely finish into the left of the goal.

With 12 minutes left, Coventry gained a goal back through Conor Chaplin.

After a busy week of transfers, manager Stuart McCall made one change from the team that beat Peterborough United 2-0 on New Year’s Day. Right-back Tony McMahon, who is on-loan from Oxford United, was given his debut in replace of Charlie Goode.

McMahon was involved in the Iron’s first attack of the match inside the opening three minutes. The ball was played wide right to the debutant, who whipped a dangerous cross into the area, which was glanced wide by Lee Novak.

Not long later, the Iron were on the attack again. A Levi Sutton cross from the left-hand side was only cleared to Perch on the edge of the box, but he bent his shot wide of the right post.

After winning his side a free-kick, George Thomas, who is a former Coventry player, opted to play the set-piece short to McMahon. The new signing set himself up to shoot from long distance, with goalkeeper Lee Burge making a comfortable save.

In the 18th minute, Coventry had their first sighting of goal. Jordan Shipley advanced forward with the ball and found Jordy Hiwula, who snatched at his shot with the ball flying wide of the target.

That chance didn’t disrupt the Iron’s rhythm when Novak chested down the ball for Perch to hit on the volley. His effort, however, deflected off a Coventry defender and bounced out for a corner-kick, which was cleared away by the visitors. 

The Iron then had two chances in the 36th minute. Firstly, Novak laid the ball into the feet of Thomas, whose low attempt was parried by Burge, before United kept the attack alive with Kyle Wootton hitting a strike straight at the Coventry goalkeeper.

With five minutes left before half-time, Wootton then created another chance for himself. The striker shrugged off three Coventry players to bring the ball down, before turning and driving inside, but hit his left-footed shot just above the goal.

Two minutes later, Wootton was presented with another opportunity from a tight angle. His effort struck the side netting, but he initially did well to get the shot away after being crowded out by white shirts.

More good football after the break was on show from the Iron. McMahon’s cross from the right-hand side found its way through to Novak, who laid the ball back to Sutton, but his side-footed attempt went over the bar.

After a Coventry corner goes past a number of bodies, the loose ball was played to Luke Thomas, who came inside and drilled a shot wide of the right post. 

In the 64th minute, neat one-touch football between Thomas, Funso Ojo and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson set the left-back free to cross. His delivery was perfectly placed for Novak, whose powerful header went wide. 

Three minutes later, the Iron had their goal and went 1-0 up after Perch found the back of the net. The midfielder received the ball on the edge of the box and his shot took a deflection into the bottom right corner of the net, wrong-footing the Coventry goalkeeper.

Coventry then looked to hit back immediately after Jonson Clarke-Harris carried the ball inside and just hit his shot over the bar.

That didn’t stop the Iron in making it 2-0 not long after. Wootton did excellent in the area to square the ball to Sutton, who finessed the ball into the left corner of the net for his first ever professional goal.

However, in the 78th minute Coventry got one goal back. Jak Alnwick initially made a good save before Chaplin headed in the rebound.

As the clock ticked down, a series of Coventry corners looked to cause problems in the Iron penalty box, but Alnwick came out to gather possession safely from the second set-piece.

On 87 minutes, Kyle Wootton broke free and charged into the box on the right. He shot across goal, but Burge got down low to save and turn the effort behind for a corner.

There were six minutes of added time but Scunthorpe successfully saw the game out and held on for three points. They return to action with a trip to Walsall next Saturday.

TEAM LINE-UPS
Scunthorpe United: Alnwick, Borthwick-Jackson, McMahon, Ojo, Perch, Novak (Lewis, 79’), Thomas, Burgess, Sutton, McArdle (c), Wootton.
Unused substitutes: Flatt, Webster, van Veen, Dales, McGahey, Hammill.

Coventry City: Burge, Mason (McCallum, 77’), Willis, Doyle (c) (Allassani, 77’), Chaplin, Hiwula (Clarke-Harris, 46’), Hyam, Sterling, Bayliss, Thomas, Shipley.
Unused substitutes: Grimmer, Davies, Westbrooke, Addai.

Referee: Thomas Bramall.

Attendance: 4,692.