SCENE-SETTER
The Iron fought back to net a 93rd minute equaliser through Abo Eisa in their last game, away at Plymouth Argyle, to claim a hard-earned point. United saw Eisa and Alex Gilliead net their first goals for the club in the clash with the Pilgrims and it was a result which lifted them up to 22nd in the table.
Scunthorpe will be seeking a second league victory of the season against the Cobblers, which could close the gap on 21st-placed Oldham Athletic, as Paul Hurst's side look to climb the table.
Northampton enter the game sitting 14th in League Two following a 1-0 home defeat to Leyton Orient last weekend.
TEAM NEWS
Manager Paul Hurst has confirmed six players will miss out due to being unavailable, but didn't want to alert Northampton to which players they are. Click here to see the manager's pre-match update.
Matthew Lund sits out the second game of a three-match suspension.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Cobblers manager Keith Curle said: “Scunthorpe have been hammered with injuries at the beginning of the season so I think it’s been hard for them to get that continuity in the team and in results. “They are just getting to the stage now where consistently they are getting players back so they have better options. I think they’ve got a very good squad and they haven’t been getting the results they would have perhaps anticipated.
“With the quality they have you would assume they will be in and around the top ten come the end of the season. They have players with quality and Kevin van Veen is one of those. There is no doubt Kevin has the ability to play much higher he just needs to find that level of consistency. I’ve got a lot of time for Kevin and it will be good to see him on Saturday.”
PAST MEETINGS
The two teams played out a 2-2 draw in their last meeting at the Sands Venue Stadium during February 2018. Funso Ojo and Murray Wallace were on target as Graham Alexander's team came from behind twice to claim a share of the spoils.
Earlier that season, Cameron Burgess and Duane Holmes (2) netted as United won 3-0 at Sixfields, while Hakeeb Adelakun scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 home FA Cup first round replay win over the Cobblers after a 0-0 away draw.
| SEASON/DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2017-18 - Sat 17 Feb | LG 1 | Iron 2-2 Northampton | Ojo, Wallace |
| 2017-18 - Sat 18 Nov | LG 1 | Northampton 0-3 Iron | Burgess, Holmes 2 |
| 2017-18 - Tue 14 Nov | FAC R1 R | Iron 1-0 Northampton | Adelakun |
| 2017-18 - Sat 4 Nov | FAC R1 | Northampton 0-0 Iron | |
| 2016-17 - Sat 14 Jan | LG 1 | Northampton 1-2 Iron | van Veen, Morris |
| 2016-17 - Sat 8 Oct | LG 1 | Iron 1-1 Northampton | Morris |
| 2013-14 - Sat 8 Mar | LG 1 | Iron 1-1 Northampton | Canavan |
| 2013-14 - Sat 7 Sep | LG 1 | Northampton 1-1 Iron | Canavan |
| 2008-09 - Tue 21 Apr | LG 1 | Northampton 3-3 Iron | Trotter, McCann, Sparrow |
| 2008-09 - Sat 13 Dec | LG 1 | Iron 4-4 Northampton | May, Hopper 2, May |
| 2006-07 - Mon 9 Apr | LG 1 | Northampton 2-1 Iron | Sharp |
| 2006-07 - Sat 18 Nov | LG 1 | Iron 1-0 Northampton | Crosby |
| 2004-05 - Sat 9 Apr | LG 2 | Northampton 1-2 Iron | Hayes, Kell |
| 2004-05 - Mon 30 Aug | LG 2 | Iron 2-0 Northampton | Keogh, Crosby |
| 2003-04 - Sat 21 Feb | DIV 3 | Iron 1-0 Northampton | Ridley |
| 2003-04 - Fri 17 Oct | DIV 3 | Northampton 1-1 Iron | Kell |
| 1996-97 - Sat 3 May | DIV 3 | Northampton 1-0 Iron | |
| 1996-97 - Tue 15 Oct | DIV 3 | Iron 2-1 Northampton | D'Auria, Hope |
| 1995-96 - Sat 30 Mar | DIV 3 | Northampton 1-2 Iron | Clarkson, McFarlane |
| 1995-96 - Sat 7 Oct | DIV 3 | Iron 0-0 Northampton | |
| 1994-95 - Fri 16 Dec | DIV 3 | Northampton 0-1 Iron | Knill |
| 1994-95 - Sat 27 Aug | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Northampton | Bradley |
| 1993-94 - Tue 8 Mar | DIV 3 | Northampton 4-0 Iron | |
| 1993-94 - Sat 16 Oct | DIV 3 | Iron 7-0 Northampton | Carmichael 3, Thompstone, Smith, Elliott, Toman |
| 1992-93 - Tue 30 Mar | DIV 3 | Iron 5-0 Northampton | Elliott, Goodacre 2, Helliwell, Thompstone |
| 1992-93 - Sat 12 Sep | DIV 3 | Northampton 1-0 Iron | |
| 1991-92 - Tue 14 Apr | DIV 4 | Iron 3-0 Northampton | Hill, Buckley, Daws |
| 1991-92 - Sat 19 Oct | DIV 4 | Northampton 0-1 Iron | Helliwell |
| 1990-91 - Sat 30 Mar | DIV 4 | Northampton 2-1 Iron | Taylor |
| 1990-91 - Tue 5 Mar | DIV 4 | Iron 3-0 Northampton | Daws, Chard (og), Lillis |
| 1986-87 - Wed 11 Mar | DIV 4 | Northampton 1-0 Iron | |
| 1986-87 - Sat 23 Aug | DIV 4 | Iron 2-2 Northampton | Cammack, Hunter |
| 1985-86 - Tue 18 Mar | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Northampton | Broddle |
| 1985-86 - Sat 2 Nov | DIV 4 | Northampton 2-2 Iron | Brolly, Lister |
| 1984-85 - Fri 22 Mar | DIV 4 | Iron 2-1 Northampton | Hill, Broddle |
| 1984-85 - Sat 6 Oct | DIV 4 | Northampton 0-2 Iron | Matthews, Cowling |
| 1982-83 - Sun 20 Mar | DIV 4 | Northampton 2-1 Iron | Cowling |
| 1982-83 - Sat 6 Nov | DIV 4 | Iron 5-1 Northampton | O'Berg 2, Cammack 3 |
| 1981-82 - Sat 23 Jan | DIV 4 | Iron 2-1 Northampton | Stewart, Telfer |
| 1981-82 - Sat 29 Aug | DIV 4 | Northampton 1-1 Iron | Green |
| 1980-81 - Fri 13 Mar | DIV 4 | Northampton 3-3 Iron | Grimes, O'Berg, Green |
| 1980-81 - Sat 11 Oct | DIV 4 | Iron 0-2 Northampton | |
| 1979-80 - Fri 25 Apr | DIV 4 | Iron 3-0 Northampton | Stewart, Cammack 2 |
| 1979-80 - Sat 8 Dec | DIV 4 | Northampton 0-0 Iron | |
| 1978-79 - Tue 20 Mar | DIV 4 | Iron 0-3 Northampton | |
| 1978-79 - Fri 15 Sep | DIV 4 | Northampton 1-0 Iron | |
| 1977-78 - Sat 25 Feb | DIV 4 | Northampton 1-2 Iron | Lumby, Deere |
| 1977-78 - Sat 1 Oct | DIV 4 | Iron 2-2 Northampton | Heron, Lumby |
| 1975-76 - Fri 27 Feb | DIV 4 | Northampton 2-1 Iron | O'Connor |
| 1975-76 - Sat 25 Oct | DIV 4 | Iron 0-2 Northampton | |
| 1974-75 - Sat 15 Feb | DIV 4 | Iron 2-1 Northampton | Roberts, Pilling |
| 1974-75 - Tue 11 Feb | DIV 4 | Northampton 3-0 Iron | |
| 1973-74 - Sun 10 Feb | DIV 4 | Iron 1-2 Northampton | Collier |
| 1973-74 - Fri 21 Sep | DIV 4 | Northampton 2-0 Iron | |
| 1971-72 - Sat 1 Jan | DIV 4 | Northampton 0-2 Iron | Jackson, Kerr |
| 1971-72 - Fri 17 Sep | DIV 4 | Iron 0-0 Northampton | |
| 1970-71 - Sat 30 Jan | DIV 4 | Northampton 1-0 Iron | |
| 1970-71 - Sat 28 Nov | DIV 4 | Iron 2-2 Northampton | Barker, Woolmer |
| 1969-70 - Tue 17 Mar | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Northampton | Davidson |
| 1969-70 - Wed 18 Feb | DIV 4 | Northampton 2-1 Iron | Heath |
| 1967-68 - Sat 2 Mar | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Northampton | Kerr |
| 1967-68 - Sat 14 Oct | DIV 3 | Northampton 1-0 Iron | |
| 1963-64 - Tue 3 Sep | DIV 2 | Northampton 2-0 Iron | |
| 1963-64 - Tue 27 Aug | DIV 2 | Iron 1-2 Northampton | Lawther |
Our full record against Northampton Town is as follows:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Home | 32 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 59 | 32 |
| Away | 32 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 33 | 42 |
| TOTAL | 64 | 25 | 19 | 20 | 92 | 74 |
ELSEWHERE IN LEAGUE TWO (all 3pm kick-offs)
Carlisle United v Crewe Alexandra
Crawley Town v Colchester United
Exeter City v Forest Green Rovers
Leyton Orient v Walsall
Macclesfield Town v Port Vale
Mansfield Town v Oldham Athletic
Morecambe v Bradford City
Salford City v Cambridge United
Stevenage v Grimsby Town
Swindon Town v Plymouth Argyle
