Iron manager Russ Wilcox is predicting a tough test for his side as the squad prepare to face unbeaten Bristol City this weekend.
United go into the fixture off the back of two consecutive wins following a 2-1 victory over Walsall last Saturday and a 2-0 triumph against Chesterfield in midweek.Wilcox believes that the Robins are one of the favourites to gain promotion come the end of the season and understands that Scunthorpe will be underdogs for the game.
He told The Iron Player: “It’ll be a tough test, a really tough test because they’re one of the favourites to get promoted this season.
“I watched them at Notts County last Sunday and they look like a strong outfit with a strong bench.
“They’ve got a really powerful squad and are unbeaten in the league so far so it’s going to be a really tough game for us.
“They’ll be a big crowd down there and we're going as underdogs really.
“Ashton Gate is always a tough place to go to and the fans get behind their team really well but our supporters have been outstanding in the last few games.
“Hopefully we can take a few down there and they can get behind us again and if the lads show the same application and quality that they have shown in the last few games then they could spring a surprise.”
The Iron picked up their first point of the 2014-15 campaign at Yeovil almost two weeks ago and since then, the club seem to have gathered a little bit of momentum.
Wilcox’s side dominated large periods of the narrow Capital One Cup loss against Championship outfit Reading and followed that up with the aforementioned Walsall and Chesterfield successes and the boss stated that the players will travel down to Bristol full of confidence.
“It’s always difficult when you don’t make a good start to the season and you’re always wanting that first point and that first win,” he continued.
“We’ve managed to get that now. We picked up our first point at Yeovil and then put in a terrific performance against Reading before getting our first three points against Walsall.
“We then backed that up with a good win in the JPT so it’s been a good ten days for the club and we’re going down there full of confidence.
“Anyone that was there on Tuesday night (against Chesterfield) or against Walsall will have seen that we’re playing some good football.
“We’re creating opportunities and in the last two games we’ve scored four goals.
“That was a problem in the early part of the season so hopefully that’s been addressed and we’re very positive towards Saturday.”
Tuesday evening’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy clash against Paul Cook’s Spireites saw United keep their first clean sheet since the 1-0 League Cup first round triumph over Blackburn at Ewood Park in mid-August.
Wilcox has placed large importance on challenging his players to transfer those shut outs into the league now as he knows that Scunthorpe are guaranteed at least one point if they can keep their opposition out.
He added: “Clean sheets are great because it guarantees you something from the game.
“If we can get one on Saturday then it guarantees us a point at least and that’s the base we worked from last year.
“I’d like to think we’re getting there although there’s changes all the time.
“We looked really solid last week but two of that back four probably won’t be playing on Saturday against Bristol and finding that consistency through the team has been really difficult.
“But what I would say is that the players that have stepped in during these last few games have been a credit to the football club. They’ve come into the team, performed well, helped us to pick up results and played some good quality football.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox, Paddy Madden and Miguel Llera on The Iron Player.