After recording a first win in nine games and a first away success since New Year’s Day, first team manager Neil Cox is looking forward to taking his side to face Port Vale in a rearranged fixture at Vale Park on Tuesday.
The United boss will leave it late to name his team ahead of the game though, giving as much chance as possible for his starting eleven from the weekend to recover from their output at Oldham.
Speaking ahead of the game to iFollow Iron, he said: “I’ve managed to get some sleep this weekend (off the back of a win), which was good. We’ve done our homework on Port Vale, and we’ve been in and the boys that have needed to train hard on Monday have done.
“We will have a look and see who will be fit for the game. One or two of the lads, as we’d expect, that have come back into the team are a little bit stiff and have soreness in some muscles, so we have to be careful. We don’t want to over-risk people. Otherwise, we will go to Port Vale as strong as possible and we go there trying to win the game.
“We have only picked the squad, we haven’t picked the team yet, but we will assess that on Tuesday. One or two might not make it. Certain players might not be able to play three games in a week.”
Cox reported a couple of players they were assessing ahead of the game, but is confident both will be able to feature in the game.
“We were a little bit worried about Abo Eisa as he took a strong challenge late on, but he’s back in,” he continued.
“Spenno (Lewis Spence) has a bit of a sore ankle and then there are a few bumps and bruises from what was a tough game.”
Aaron Jarvis and George Hornshaw missed the weekend’s game, while Harrison McGahey and Frank Vincent are two names that have been absent from the Iron teamsheet in recent times. The Scunthorpe manager gave an update on the quartet.
“Aaron Jarvis’ hamstring injury isn’t as bad as we first feared. He will be out two to two-and-a-half weeks,” he stated.
“We’ve got a little break after the Bolton game next Tuesday, so hopefully we can have him back available for after that. George Hornshaw needs a few more days to recover as well. He’s back in after having to be off for two weeks and he’s come back in with a cold, so we have to be careful with him. We’ve had to cut down his training and he will miss out from the squad.
“Harrison comes back into the building on Tuesday and we’ve not seen him for a while. He’s been isolating, so we’ll look at him, see how his body is and we’ll get him training again. He wants to get back into the team.
“Frank Vincent has gone back to Bournemouth for treatment. We’re waiting for news from them, but we think he will be out for over two months. It was quite a bad thigh strain. We’re going to monitor that, wait until January and see what happens from there."
The 49-year-old finished his press conference with a tribute to vice president and former goalkeeper Ray Clemence MBE, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 72.
There will be a minute's silence before Tuesday's away game against Port Vale, and Saturday's home match versus Morecambe. Meanwhile, the United players will wear black armbands in memory of Clemence, who went on to star for Liverpool, Tottenham and England, at both fixtures too.
He said: "I first met Ray in my time as a player at Scunthorpe United. He was at Tottenham and came to watch myself and Richard Hall, and put a good word in at Tottenham about us at the time.
"In more recent years I've seen him at a lot of games and had the chance to speak to him, as well as play golf with him. He was a well-known character around this football club and it's a sad time for his family.
"He set a great example, learning his trade here and going onto be a European Cup winner at Liverpool. He went on to play for England and achieved so much in his life.
"He always spoke so well of Scunthorpe and enjoyed coming back. He will be sadly missed."
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