SCENE-SETTER
United will be looking for their first three points of the season as they face the Cumbrians, who sit three places above them in 21st position in League One.
Steven Pressley’s side were beaten in the Carabao Cup second round by Rochdale in midweek, losing 2-1. In the league, their last fixture saw them draw 2-2 at home to Salford City.
TEAM NEWS
Kevin van Veen (knee) has trained all week so could be in contention for a place in the squad, but Paul Hurst confirmed in his pre-match press conference that there were a couple of fresh injury concerns for two unnamed players.
James Perch serves the second match of a three-game suspension so misses out, while Lee Novak (ankle) remains absent for the next month or so.
Meanwhile, Ryan Colclough (groin) will be assessed in training after playing 90 minutes for the Under-23s in midweek, as will Jacob Bedeau, who is coming back from a knee injury.
Clayton Lewis is set to join New Zealand for international duty, while elsewhere, Andy Dales (hamstring), Levi Sutton (knee ligaments) and Lewis Butroid (ankle) are still out due to injuries picked up in pre-season.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Speaking ahead of the game, Carlisle boss Steven Pressley said: "This is another game where we are coming up against a side who will try to play their football at what is a very tight ground.
"They've tightened things up defensively recently and there is no doubt they'll be looking for a turnaround in results as quickly as possible.
"League positions don't mean too much at this stage of the season, other than they show those sides who have found a bit of consistency. That's what both ourselves and Scunthorpe are looking for just now.
"The good thing for us is that we know we aren't too far away. Some of the football we're playing is fantastic, and it's now about eradicating the errors we've been making in our final third and converting the very good chances we're creating into goals.
"It's a game for us to look forward to. We know our fans will be there in numbers again, as they always are, so it's about giving them a positive result and another good performance to cheer."
PAST MEETINGS
| SEASON - DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2012-13 - Tue Feb 13 | LG 1 | Iron 3-1 Carlisle | Sodje 2, Reid |
| 2012-13 - Sat Jan 26 | LG 1 | Carlisle 1-1 Iron | Hawley |
| 2011-12 - Mon Apr 9 | LG 1 | Carlisle 0-0 Iron | |
| 2011-12 - Sat Dec 10 | LG 1 | Iron 1-2 Carlisle | Barcham |
| 2008-09 - Sat Mar 14 | LG 1 | Carlisle 1-1 Iron | Hayes |
| 2008-09 - Sat Sep 13 | LG 1 | Iron 2-1 Carlisle | Sparrow, Hayes |
| 2006-07 - Sat May 5 | LG 1 | Iron 3-0 Carlisle | Taylor, Sparrow, Beckford |
| 2006-07 - Sat Dec 9 | LG 1 | Carlisle 0-2 Iron | Sharp, Keogh |
| 2003-04 - Tue Mar 24 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-3 Carlisle | MacLean 2 |
| 2003-04 - Tue Oct 21 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 1-4 Iron | Torpey, MacLean, Sharp, Beagrie |
| 2002-03 - Tue Mar 11 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 1-2 Iron | Beagrie, Dawson |
| 2002-03 - Mon Dec 23 | FAC R2 R | Carlisle 0-1 Iron | Carruthers |
| 2002-03 - Sat Dec 7 | FAC R2 | Iron 0-0 Carlisle | |
| 2002-03 - Tue Sep 17 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-1 Carlisle | Torpey 2, Carruthers |
| 2001-02 - Sat Mar 16 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-1 Carlisle | Jeffrey, Hodges |
| 2001-02 - Sat Dec 1 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 3-0 Iron | |
| 2000-01 - Mon Apr 16 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-0 Carlisle | Sparrow, Carruthers, Torpey |
| 2000-01 - Sat Oct 28 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 1-2 Iron | Larusson, Hodges |
| 1998-99 - Tue Jan 19 | FLT R2 | Iron 1-1 Carlisle (Carlisle win 4-3 on pens) |
Walker |
| 1998-99 - Sat Jan 16 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 0-1 Iron | Eyre |
| 1998-99 - Sat Aug 15 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-1 Carlisle | Hope, Eyre, Gayle |
| 1996-97 - Sat Mar 8 | DIV 3 | Iron 0-0 Carlisle | |
| 1996-97 - Sat Dec 21 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 3-2 Iron | Clarkson, McFarlane |
| 1994-95 - Sat Mar 25 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 2-1 Iron | Kiwomya |
| 1994-95 - Sat Sep 3 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-3 Carlisle | Juryeff, Thornber |
| 1993-94 - Sat Mar 12 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 3-1 Iron | Goodacre |
| 1993-94 - Sat Sep 18 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-1 Carlisle | Carmichael 2 |
| 1992-93 - Sat Jan 16 | DIV 3 | Iron 0-0 Carlisle | |
| 1992-93 - Sat Sep 26 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 0-2 Iron | Helliwell 2 |
| 1991-92 - Sat May 2 | DIV 4 | Iron 4-0 Carlisle | Elliott, Daws, Hill, Helliwell |
| 1991-92 - Sat Oct 12 | DIV 4 | Carlisle 0-0 Iron | |
| 1990-91 - Sat Apr 6 | DIV 4 | Carlisle 0-3 Iron | Hill, Hine, Dalziel (og) |
| 1990-91 - Sat Dec 29 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-0 Carlisle | Flounders, Lillis |
| 1990-91 - Tue Sep 4 | LGC R1 L2 | Iron 1-1 Carlisle | Lillis |
| 1990-91 - Tue Aug 28 | LGC R1 L1 | Carlisle 1-0 Iron | |
| 1989-90 - Sat Mar 24 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-3 Carlisle | Flounders, Lillis |
| 1989-90 - Tue Oct 17 | DIV 4 | Carlisle 0-1 Iron | Lillis |
| 1988-89 - Sat Feb 4 | DIV 4 | Carlisle 0-3 Iron | Lister, Taylor, Flounders |
| 1988-89 - Tue Sep 20 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-1 Carlisle | Flounders |
| 1987-88 - Tue Apr 12 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Carlisle | Shearer |
| 1987-88 - Sat Aug 22 | DIV 4 | Carlisle 3-1 Iron | Johnson |
| 1964-65 - Sat Mar 6 | DIV 3 | Carlisle 3-1 Iron | Thomas |
| 1964-65 - Fri Jan 29 | DIV 3 | Iron 0-1 Carlisle | |
| 1957-58 - Thu May 1 | DIV 3N | Iron 3-1 Carlisle | Davis, Haigh, Brownsword |
| 1957-58 - Sat Oct 26 | DIV 3N | Carlisle 3-4 Iron | Gleadall 2, Fletcher, Marriott |
| 1956-57 - Sat Mar 23 | DIV 3N | Carlisle 0-0 Iron | |
| 1956-57 - Sat Nov 10 | DIV 3N | Iron 1-2 Carlisle | Luke |
| 1955-56 - Sat 18 Feb | DIV 3N | Carlisle 1-2 Iron | Haigh, Gregory |
| 1955-56 - Sat Oct 8 | DIV 3N | Iron 4-0 Carlisle | Gregory 2, Davies, Haigh |
| 1954-55 - Sat Apr 30 | DIV 3N | Carlisle 1-2 Iron | Brown, Brownsword |
| 1954-55 - Mon Apr 18 | DIV 3N | Iron 1-1 Carlisle | Gregory |
| 1953-54 - Sat Apr 24 | DIV 3N | Iron 2-1 Carlisle | Hubbard, Gregory |
| 1953-54 - Sat Dec 5 | DIV 3N | Carlisle 5-1 Iron | Gregory |
| 1952-53 - Sat Dec 27 | DIV 3N | Iron 1-2 Carlisle | White |
| 1952-53 - Thu Dec 25 | DIV 3N | Carlisle 8-0 Iron | |
| 1952-53 - Sat Nov 22 | FAC R1 | Iron 1-0 Carlisle | Whitfield |
| 1951-52 - Thu Apr 24 | DIV 3N | Iron 1-1 Carlisle | Ottewell |
| 1951-52 - Sat Apr 12 | DIV 3N | Carlisle 3-0 Iron | |
| 1950-51 - Sat Feb 3 | DIV 3N | Iron 1-1 Carlisle | Clelland |
| 1950-51 - Sat Sep 23 | DIV 3N | Carlisle 3-1 Iron | Gorin |
| SCUNTHORPE WINS | DRAWS | CARLISLE WINS | |
| LEAGUE | 26 | 11 | 17 |
| FA CUP | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| CUP | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| LEAGUE CUP | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 28 | 14 | 18 |
ELSEWHERE IN LEAGUE TWO
Crawley v Cheltenham
Crewe v Bradford
Exeter v Mansfield
Forest Green v Newport
Northampton v Plymouth
Oldham v Colchester
Port Vale v Cambridge
Salford v Leyton Orient
Stevenage v Macclesfield
Swindon v Morecambe
Walsall v Grimsby
