The new Sky Bet League Two season gets underway at the Sands Venue Stadium this Saturday (3pm kick-off).
SCENE-SETTER
This weekend’s match will see Scunthorpe United welcome Swindon Town. The two teams had a break of meeting each other in the last campaign, with the Iron being in League One. The match will be United boss Paul Hurst’s first competitive match in charge, and he'll be aiming to get off the perfect start.
TEAM NEWS
Striker Kyle Wootton has enjoyed a week of full training after returning from a thigh injury as a substitute against Lincoln City in a pre-season friendly last weekend.
Elsewhere, Clayton Lewis (thigh), Levi Sutton (knee ligaments) and Lewis Butroid (ankle) are out of contention due to injuries picked up in pre-season.
The game is too soon for Ryan Colclough, though he came on as a substitute against Lincoln City last weekend, as he recovers from the knee ligament injury that's ruled him out since last November.
Meanwhile, James Perch misses out through a three-game suspension that comes after picking up his 15th booking of the season on the final day of last season at Plymouth Argyle.
Danny Rose will miss the game for the visitors due to an injury keeping him out until the middle of August
Tom Broadbent is also a doubt for Swindon, but he is not ruled out completely, so he could make an appearance for Richie Wellens' side.
ONE TO WATCH
It is difficult to tell, this early into the campaign, but there has been a lot of excitement from the Swindon Town fans around the signing of Lloyd Isgrove, who has joined on a free transfer after leaving newly promoted Championship club, Barnsley.
However, if last season is much to go by, midfielder Michael Doughty was Swindon Town’s top scorer for the season in the last campaign, with 13 goals to his name.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Robins boss Richie Wellens is very optimistic going into the first game of the new season, and is happy with the shape and attitude of his team as he prepares to lead them into the new Sky Bet League Two campaign.
“Pre-season has been long – longer than I thought but I was pleased with the level of fitness that the lads came back in with," he said.
“I know about all of their players – it was a surprise that they got relegated. They have a good squad. I have played against some of them and managed against most of them.”
PAST MEETINGS
The Iron's most recent victory came in the 2016/17 season, when they took all three points away from home as they ran out 2-1 winners.
Murray Wallace scored just five minutes into the match before Sam Mantom secured the points in the 71st minute. Swindon did pull one goal back five minutes from time, as Rohan Ince netted for the home side.
This was the second win against Swindon Town in the 2016/17 season for the Iron, with the return fixture ending 4-1 to Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park.
| SEASON - DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2016-17 - Sat 22 Apr | LG 1 | Swindon 1-2 Iron | Wallace, Mantom |
| 2016-17 - Sat 29 Oct | LG 1 | Iron 4-1 Swindon | Madden 2, Holmes, van Veen |
| 2015-16 - Mon 28 Mar | LG 1 | Iron 6-0 Swindon | Townsend, Clarke, Adelakun, Hopper 2, Madden |
| 2014-15 - Sat 14 Feb | LG 1 | Iron 3-1 Swindon | Madden, Canavan, van Veen |
| 2012-13 - Sat 27 Apr | LG 1 | Iron 3-1 Swindon | Collins, Hawley, Duffy |
| 2012-13 - Sat 20 Oct | LG 1 | Swindon 1-1 Iron | Hawley |
| 2008-09 - Sat 21 Feb | LG 1 | Swindon 4-2 Iron | Hooper, Lansbury |
| 2008-09 - Sat 1 Nov | LG 1 | Iron 3-3 Swindon | McCann, Woolford, Pearce |
| 2005-06 - Mon 17 Apr | LG 1 | Iron 1-2 Swindon | Sharp |
| 2005-06 - Sat 22 Oct | LG 1 | Swindon 1-1 Iron | Sparrow |
| 1985-86 - Sat 12 Apr | DIV 4 | Swindon 1-1 Iron | Hunter |
| 1985-86 - Sat 9 Nov | DIV4 | Iron 0-2 Swindon | |
| 1984-85 - Fri 29 Mar | DIV 4 | Iron 6-2 Swindon | Cammack, Broddle, Brolly, Hill, Graham, Green |
| 1984-85 - Tue 6 Nov | DIV 4 | Swindon 0-0 Iron | |
| 1982-83 - Mon 2 May | DIV 4 | Iron 2-0 Swindon | Cammack, Lester |
| 1982-83 - Mon 3 Jan | DIV 4 | Swindon 2-2 Iron | Parkinson, Cammack |
| 1969-70 - Friday 30 Jan | FA Cup R5 | Swindon 3-1 Iron | Cassidy |
| 1967-68 - Fri 19 Apr | DIV 3 (old) | Iron 3-1 Swindon | Heath, Kerr 2 |
| 1967-68 - Sat 25 Nov | DIV 3 (old) | Swindon 2-0 Iron | |
| 1966-67 - Fri 12 May | DIV 3 (old) | Iron 1-2 Swindon | Colquhoun |
| 1966-67 - Sat 22 Apr | DIV 3 (old) | Swindon 2-1 Iron | Sloan |
| 1965-66 - Sat 7 May | DIV 3 (old) | Swindon 0-0 Iron | |
| 1965-66 - Sat 11 Dec | DIV 3 (old) | Iron 2-1 Swindon | Bedford 2 |
| 1963-64 - Sat 14 Dec | DIV 2 (old) | Iron 3-0 Swindon | Hodgson, Lawther, Woodruff (og) |
| 1963-64 - Sat 24 Aug | DIV 2 (old) | Swindon 3-0 Iron |
ELSEWHERE IN LEAGUE TWO
Salford City Vs Stevenage (12:30)
Bradford City Vs Cambridge United (15:00)
Carlisle United Vs Crawley Town (15:00)
Colchester United Vs Port Vale (15:00)
Crewe Alexandra Vs Plymouth Argyle (15:00)
Exeter City Vs Macclesfield Town (15:00)
Forest Green Rovers Vs Oldham Athletic (15:00)
Leyton Orient Vs Cheltenham Town (15:00)
Morecambe Vs Grimsby Town (15:00)
Newport County Vs Mansfield Town (15:00)
Northampton Town Vs Walsall (15:00)
HALF-TIME DRAW
We will have our half-time draw tickets on sale for £1 when we face Swindon Town, before the game and during the first half.