The Iron travel to Colchester on Saturday and will be looking to make it three games unbeaten and pull further away from the bottom four.
Kyle Wootton netted a last minute goal in the Iron’s last outing to secure a 1-1 draw and keep Mark Robins’ side in 17th place.Colchester find themselves below the Iron in 23rd place and in the relegation zone, but are still only three points from safety with four games to play.
They were not helped by a 6-0 defeat to Chesterfield in their last match, which was their second consecutive defeat after what had seemed to be a mini-revival.
Colchester have managed to win both of their last two home matches, but only Notts County have a worse record on their own soil this season.
They have struggled without ex-United striker Freddie Sears, who netted ten goals before a January move to Ipswich, but have former Iron loanee Jacob Murphy, who has been in impressive form since joining.
Mark Robins will have a welcome dilemma regarding his team selection, following the impressive performance from Kyle Wootton, who came off the bench to score on Tuesday.
The Iron boss was also full of praise for Hakeeb Adelakun, another substitute who came on to help change the game for United, so he may also get a chance from the start.
Goalkeeper Sam Slocombe has made a comeback for the reserves, but a return to first team action may be a bit too soon for the shot stopper.
The last meeting between the two sides came in this season’s 1-1 draw at Glanford Park, with Rory Fallon on target for the Iron and the recently departed Sears for the visitors.
The Iron won on their last trip to Essex though, winning 2-1 thanks to Jimmy Ryan and Karl Hawley goals, with Sears on target once again for Colchester.
Scunthorpe are unbeaten in their last ten matches against the U’s, winning four and drawing the other six. The last Colchester win came back in February 2006.
Out of a total of 59 matches played between the two sides, the Iron have a better record than the U’s, winning 24 compared to Colchester’s 16, with 19 draws between the two teams.
Ahead of the game, see our article on the matchday officials, as well as the betting preview, picking the best odds from the league’s official sponsor, Sky Bet.
If you cannot make it to Essex to see if the Iron can pull further clear of the League One bottom four, keep track of the action by tuning into the club’s official social media channels or the official website, with live updates available from kick-off.