The Iron will be looking to bounce back this weekend with all three points when they host Bristol Rovers in Sky Bet League One at Glanford Park on Saturday 9th March (3pm kick-off).
Stuart McCall’s side enter the fixture on the back of three games without a win, but his team will be hoping they can turn that recent record around with victory on Saturday, as the Iron look to stretch their home unbeaten run to six matches.
Scunthorpe fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat last time out in their most recent game away at Oxford United. George Thomas notched for the Iron in stoppage time to make an entertaining finish to the match, but two second-half headers from Jerome Sinclair proved to be enough for the U’s to hold on for the victory at the Kassam Stadium.
As for Bristol Rovers, they were in midweek action this week, but were knocked out of the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday night after losing 2-0 at home to Sunderland in the semi-final of the competition.
However, in their last League One fixture, Rovers beat Blackpool convincingly 4-0 at the Memorial Stadium for their first win in three matches. Jonson Clarke-Harris scored a hat-trick in that game, with Liam Sercombe adding to the scoreline late on, but the result still saw Bristol Rovers stay 21st and in the relegation zone.
TEAM NEWS…
Josh Morris and Jordan Clarke are back on the training pitch but will still be out of action for an unspecified length of time as the medical staff continue to monitor them.
Tony McMahon returns to contention after missing the Oxford game last weekend as part of the deal that brought him to the club from the U's.
Meanwhile, Byron Webster is back training after missing out last week through a hamstring strain.
Elsewhere, Ryan Colclough (knee) is out for the remainder of the season. Rory Watson (arm) also looks likely to be out for the rest of the season following surgery last month.
Matthew Lund is out until April after a clean-up operation on a knee problem, while Cameron Borthwick-Jackson will be out for a few weeks with cartilage damage.
PAST MEETINGS…
The Iron have a brilliant record against Bristol Rovers over the years and are currently looking to stretch their unbeaten run to eight games against them with another good result this weekend.
United haven’t lost against Rovers since February 2009 and have three wins and four draws to their name in that time.
In the reverse fixture at the Memorial Stadium back in November, the Iron were 2-1 winners.
Lee Novak put United ahead early on, before Liam Sercombe scored just before half-time to level the score, but Matthew Lund notched the winner for Scunthorpe with just over ten minutes to play, after Jak Alnwick had previously saved a penalty to deny Chris Lines.
| SEASON/DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2018-19 - Sat 17 Nov | LG 1 | Bristol R 1-2 Iron | Novak, Lund |
| 2017-18 - Sat 24 Feb | LG 1 | Bristol R 1-1 Iron | Holmes |
| 2017-18 - Sat 11 Nov | LG 1 | Iron 1-0 Bristol R | Bishop |
| 2016-17 - Sat 25 Feb | LG 1 | Bristol R 1-1 Iron | Lockyer (og) |
| 2016-17 - Sat 6 Aug | LG 1 | Iron 3-1 Bristol R | van Veen, Morris, Wootton |
| 2013-14 - Tue 25 Feb | LG 1 | Iron 1-1 Bristol R | Winnall |
| 2013-14 - Sat 10 Aug | LG 1 | Bristol R 0-0 Iron | |
| 2008-09 - Sat 14 Feb | LG 1 | Iron 0-2 Bristol R | |
| 2008-09 - Fri 14 Nov | LG 1 | Bristol R 1-2 Iron | McCann, Iriekpen |
| 2004-05 - Sat 30 Apr | LG 2 | Iron 4-0 Bristol R | Torpey 2, Hayes, Taylor |
| 2004-05 - Sat 20 Nov | LG 2 | Bristol R 0-3 Iron | Hayes 2, Torpey |
| 2003-04 - Sat 10 Jan | DIV 3 | Bristol R 1-0 Iron | |
| 2003-04 - Sat 9 Aug | DIV 3 | Iron 1-2 Bristol R | Beagrie |
| 2002-03 - Sat 18 Jan | DIV 3 | Bristol R 2-1 Iron | Carruthers |
| 2002-03 - Sat 31 Aug | DIV 3 | Iron 2-2 Bristol R | Dawson, Carruthers |
| 2001-02 - Sat 12 Jan | DIV 3 | Bristol R 1-1 Iron | Calvo-Garcia |
| 2001-02 - Sat 18 Aug | DIV 3 | Iron 1-2 Bristol R | Quailey |
| 1999-00 - Sat 12 Feb | DIV 2 | Bristol R 1-1 Iron | Hope |
| 1999-00 - Sat 4 Sep | DIV 2 | Iron 0-2 Bristol R | |
| 1983-84 - Sat 25 Feb | DIV 3 | Iron 2-2 Bristol R | Cammack, O'Berg |
| 1983-84 - Sat 22 Oct | DIV 3 | Bristol R 4-1 Iron | Pointon |
| 1972-73 - Sat 7 Apr | DIV 3 | Iron 0-2 Bristol R | |
| 1972-73 - Sat 2 Dec | DIV 3 | Bristol R 5-1 Iron | Fletcher |
| 1967-68 - Sat 10 Feb | DIV 3 | Bristol R 4-0 Iron | |
| 1967-68 - Sat 30 Sep | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Bristol R | Sloan |
| 1966-67 - Mon 24 Apr | DIV 3 | Iron 3-1 Bristol R | Barton 2, Coatsworth |
| 1966-67 - Mon 24 Oct | DIV 3 | Bristol R 1-1 Iron | Thomas |
| 1965-66 - Tue 29 Mar | DIV 3 | Bristol R 2-0 Iron | |
| 1965-66 - Sat 16 Oct | DIV 3 | Iron 3-0 Bristol R | Goodwin, Barton, Bedford |
| 1964-65 - Sat 20 Mar | DIV 3 | Bristol R 2-0 Iron | |
| 1964-65 - Sat 7 Nov | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Bristol R | Lindsey |
| 1961-62 - Mon 18 Sep | DIV 2 | Bristol R 2-1 Iron | Thomas |
| 1961-62 - Tue 5 Sep | DIV 2 | Iron 2-1 Bristol R | Godfrey, Thomas |
| 1960-61 - Sat 21 Jan | DIV 2 | Bristol R 3-3 Iron | Thomas 2, Marriott |
| 1960-61 - Sat 10 Sep | DIV 2 | Iron 2-1 Bristol R | Thomas 2 |
| 1959-60 - Sat 5 Mar | DIV 2 | Iron 3-4 Bristol R | Thomas 2, Donnelly |
| 1959-60 - Sat 17 Oct | DIV 2 | Bristol R 1-1 Iron | Donnelly |
| 1958-59 - Sat 3 Jan | DIV 2 | Iron 0-0 Bristol R | |
| 1958-59 - Sat 30 Aug | DIV 2 | Bristol R 4-0 Iron |
Our full record against Bristol Rovers is as follows:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Home | 19 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 30 | 25 |
| Away | 20 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 20 | 37 |
| TOTAL | 39 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 50 | 62 |
ONE TO WATCH…
After making the switch from Coventry to Bristol Rovers in January, striker Jonson Clarke-Harris has already impressed at the Memorial Stadium, netting four goals in just five games.
The 24-year-old started his career with his hometown club Coventry City in 2010, after rising through the ranks with the Sky Blues. However, he saw his chances in the first team limited, and left for Peterborough in 2012.
From there, he went on loan briefly to Southend and Bury, before leaving to join Oldham Athletic in the summer of 2013.
Here, he found good form, scoring seven times in 45 appearances, which earnt him a move to Rotherham United a year later. The striker spent four years with the Yorkshire club, before deciding to return to Coventry in 2018, where he spent the first half of the 2018/19 season.
During this campaign so far, Clarke-Harris has a total of nine goals to his name in League One for both Coventry and Bristol Rovers, and he will be looking to continue his fine form again this weekend, after scoring a hat-trick in Rovers’ last outing against Blackpool.
ELSHWHERE IN LEAGUE ONE…
FRIDAY
Coventry City vs Burton Albion (7:45pm)
SATURDAY (all kick-offs 3pm unless stated)
AFC Wimbledon vs Doncaster Rovers
Barnsley vs Accrington Stanley
Blackpool vs Southend United
Bradford City vs Peterborough United
Gillingham vs Oxford United
Plymouth Argyle vs Luton Town
Rochdale vs Shrewsbury Town
Walsall vs Fleetwood Town
Wycombe Wanderers vs Sunderland
Charlton Athletic vs Portsmouth (5:30pm)