The Iron head into Saturday’s league clash with Leyton Orient searching for their first away league victory of the season, despite an impressive run of eight home games unbeaten in all competitions.
SCENE-SETTER
Following a comprehensive 3-0 home win over League One outfit Sunderland on Tuesday, Paul Hurst’s men will be looking to achieve a similar result in Saturday’s match against The O’s, and the gaffer will no doubt have decisions to make as to who’s worthy of a place in the starting XI.
With not much separating the two sides heading into the Sky Bet League Two match, an Iron win would close the gap to just two points in the table, and subsequently away from Morecambe in the drop zone.
Orient will be looking for a reaction following their disappointing 2-1 home defeat in the FA Cup on Sunday, at the hands of Maldon and Tiptree. This result marks the clubs fifth match in all competitions without a win.
TEAM NEWS
Following a positive performance, both individually and collectively in midweek, manager Paul Hurst has a selection dilemma ahead of the weekend's trip to London.
He confirmed though, in his pre-match press conference, Yann Songo'o (dislocated toe), Jamie Ward (hamstring), Levi Sutton (hand) and Jordan Hallam (hamstring) all continue to miss out, although the latter has stepped up his return.
Abo Eisa, who picked up a goal and the man of the match award against Sunderland on Tuesday, is one of the players who will be pushing for a start while Jordan Clarke made he long awaited return to action, completing the full 90 minutes.
Kgosi Ntlhe (groin) will be part of the travelling contingent to London after resuming full training on Monday, but whether he will make up the matchday 18 remains to be seen.
Elsewhere, Regan Slater (ankle) and George Miller (quad strain) remain absent, while Jamie Proctor comes back into contention after being cup-tied in midweek. Miller has returned to the group following a spell with parent club Barnsley, but the weekend's match will come too soon.
PAST MEETINGS
This fixture dates back to over 60 years ago, where the two sides met for the first time on September 13th, 1958, with the match finishing 2-1 to Orient.
However, it’s the Iron who edge the head-to-head record, having won 20 of the 55 match-ups between them. Across the 55, Orient have emerged winners 16 times, with 20 of the clashes ending in a draw.
53 of the 55 previous encounters have been league matches, but the two haven’t faced off in that format since January 2015, where the Iron won 4-1 away from home thanks to goals from Gary McSheffrey, Luke O’Neil, and a brace from Tom Hopper.
Since then, the past two meetings have been in the FA Cup. The first being a 0-0 stalemate away from home, followed by a replay victory for the Iron, winning comfortably, 3-0 in December 2015. The latter being the last time the two clubs faced off, almost four years ago.
| SEASON/DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2015-16 - Tue Dec 15 | FACR2 R | Iron 3-0 Orient | Mvoto og, King, Adelakun |
| 2015-16 - Sat Dec 5 | FACR2 | Orient 0-0 Iron | |
| 2014-15 - Sat Jan 31 | LG 1 | Orient 1-4 Iron | O'Neil, McSheffrey, Hopper 2 |
| 2014-15 - Sat Sep 20 | LG 1 | Iron 1-2 Orient | Sparrow |
| 2012-13 - Fri Mar 29 | LG 1 | Iron 2-1 Orient | Sodje, Canavan |
| 2012-13 - Sat Dec 15 | LG 1 | Orient 1-3 Iron | Ribeiro, Hawley, Mozika |
| 2011-12 - Sat Feb 18 | LG 1 | Orient 1-3 Iron | Walker, Barcham, Parkin |
| 2011-12 - Sat Oct 8 | LG 1 | Iron 2-3 Orient | Barcham 2 |
| 2008-09 - Sat Jan 24 | LG 1 | Iron 2-1 Orient | Hayes, Thompson |
| 2008-09 - Sat Oct 4 | LG 1 | Orient 2-2 Iron | Iriekpen, Hayes |
| 2006-07 - Sat Mar 24 | LG 1 | Orient 2-2 Iron | MacKenzie, Sharp |
| 2006-07 - Sat Oct 28 | LG 1 | Iron 3-1 Orient | Sharp 2, Sparrow |
| 2004-05 - Sat Feb 19 | LG 2 | Iron 1-0 Orient | Keogh |
| 2004-05 - Sat Oct 30 | LG 2 | Orient 1-1 Iron | Torpey |
| 2003-04 - Sat Mar 27 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Orient | Sparrow |
| 2003-04 - Sat Sep 20 | DIV 3 | Orient 1-1 Iron | Kell |
| 2002-03 - Sat Jan 11 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-1 Orient | Sparrow, Kilford |
| 2002-03 - Sat Aug 17 | DIV 3 | Orient 2-0 Iron | |
| 2001-02 - Mon Apr 1 | DIV 3 | Orient 0-0 Iron | |
| 2001-02 - Sat Nov 3 | DIV 3 | Iron 4-1 Orient | Torpey 2, Hodges, Beagrie |
| 2000-01 - Tue Feb 20 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Orient | Hodges |
| 2000-01 - Tue Sep 12 | DIV 3 | Orient 1-1 Iron | Hodges |
| 1998-99 - Sat May 29 | DIV 3 PO F | Iron 1-0 Orient | Garcia |
| 1998-99 - Sat Mar 20 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-0 Orient | Garcia, Forrester |
| 1998-99 - Sat Oct 31 | DIV 3 | Orient 1-0 Iron | |
| 1997-98 - Tue Apr 21 | DIV 3 | Orient 1-0 Iron | |
| 1997-98 - Sat Aug 16 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-0 Orient | Forrester |
| 1996-97 - Sat Mar 29 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-2 Orient | Forrester |
| 1996-97 - Sat Aug 17 | DIV 3 | Orient 0-1 Iron | Clarkson |
| 1995-96 - Mon Apr 8 | DIV 3 | Orient 0-0 Iron | |
| 1995-96 - Sat Oct 21 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-0 Orient | Hope, Paterson |
| 1988-89 - Sat May 13 | DIV 4 | Orient 4-1 Iron | Taylor |
| 1988-89 - Sat Nov 12 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-2 Orient | Daws 2 |
| 1987-88 - Sat Feb 13 | DIV 4 | Iron 3-2 Orient | Harle 2, Shearer |
| 1987-88 - Mon Dec 28 | DIV 4 | Orient 1-1 Iron | Harle |
| 1986-87 - Tue Feb 10 | DIV 4 | Iron 0-2 Orient | |
| 1986-87 - Sat Sep 13 | DIV 4 | Orient 3-1 Iron | Birch |
| 1985-86 - Sat Mar 8 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-2 Orient | Whitehead, Cammack |
| 1985-86 - Sat Oct 5 | DIV 4 | Orient 3-0 Iron | |
| 1983-84 - Tue May 1 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-1 Orient | Graham 2, Parkinson |
| 1983-84 - Fri Sep 9 | DIV 3 | Orient 1-0 Iron | |
| 1967-68 - Sat Mar 16 | DIV 3 | Orient 2-1 Iron | Heath |
| 1967-68 - Sat Oct 21 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Orient | Foxon |
| 1966-67 - Fri Dec 30 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-2 Orient | Sloan, Barton |
| 1966-67 - Sat Aug 27 | DIV 3 | Orient 3-1 Iron | Ash |
| 1963-64 - Sat Mar 14 | DIV 2 | Orient 2-2 Iron | Wilson, Mason |
| 1963-64 - Tue Oct 1 | DIV 2 | Iron 0-0 Orient | |
| 1961-62 - Sat Apr 14 | DIV 2 | Orient 0-1 Iron | |
| 1961-62 - Fri Nov 24 | DIV 2 | Iron 0-2 Orient | |
| 1960-61 - Sat Dec 31 | DIV 2 | Orient 2-1 Iron | Bonson |
| 1960-61 - Sat Aug 27 | DIV 2 | Iron 2-2 Orient | Thomas 2 |
| 1959-60 - Sat Apr 16 | DIV 2 | Iron 2-1 Orient | Bakes, Brownsword |
| 1959-60 - Sat Dec 12 | DIV 2 | Orient 1-1 Iron | Haigh |
| 1958-59 - Sat Jan 31 | DIV 2 | Iron 2-0 Orient | Harburn, Waldock |
| 1958-59 - Sat Sep 13 | DIV 2 | Orient 2-1 Iron | Waldock |
| SCUNTHORPE WINS | DRAWS | ORIENT WINS | |
| League | 19 | 18 | 16 |
| Total | 20 | 19 | 16 |
ELSEWHERE IN LEAGUE TWO
Crawley Town v Morecambe (3pm)
Exeter City v Cheltenham Town (3pm)
Forest Green Rovers v Plymouth Argyle (3pm)
Macclesfield Town v Mansfield Town (3pm)
Northampton Town v Crewe Alexandra (3pm)
Port Vale v Carlisle United (3pm)
Salford City v Swindon Town (3pm)
Walsall v Cambridge United (3pm)
All other scheduled fixtures on Saturday have been postponed due to international call-ups.