The Iron are back in League Two action again on Tuesday night when they visit Port Vale (7pm kick-off).
SCENE-SETTER...
The game at Vale Park, rearranged after originally being postponed a fortnight ago, will see United looking to make it two league wins in a row following Saturday's confidence-boosting 2-0 away success at Oldham Athletic.
After absorbing some early pressure, a Scunthorpe side that saw eight changes from the previous league game went on to dominate and could have won by more than two goals in the end. Jacob Bedeau and Kevin van Veen scored the decisive strikes.
The Valiants sit eighth in League Two, and could go as high as third in the table with victory in their game in hand this midweek, but were beaten 4-3 by Tranmere Rovers at home last weekend. They were down to 10 men from the 52nd minute when Luke Joyce was sent off.
THE OPPOSITION...
Tom Conlon, David Amoo and Devante Rodney got Vale's goals in that particular match, but they were hit by sucker punches from Rovers in the third and sixth minutes of stoppage time to see three points snatched away.
It was their second home loss in succession, following a 1-0 home defeat to King's Lynn in the Emirates FA Cup first round the previous week, so John Askey's side will enter the match eager to return to winning ways.
Before that, they'd won their last three league games - 2-0 away at Southend through a Tom Pope brace, 2-1 at home to Cheltenham thanks to Leon Legge and David Worrall and 2-1 at Oldham thanks to Nathan Smith and Mitch Clark.
The Valiants met Scunthorpe earlier in the season in the Carabao Cup first round back at the start of September, and were 2-1 winners thanks to debut goals from Zak Mills and Theo Robinson in stoppage time of both halves. Ryan Loft scored a debut strike for United that afternoon.
In the scoring charts, they have four players on two league strikes - Conlon, Mark Cullen, Pope and Rodney. Goalkeeper Scott Brown, defender Legge and midfielder Worrall top the appearance tallies with 11 starts apiece.
TEAM NEWS...
Saturday's win saw returns to action for several Iron players, who will be assessed with Tuesday's game coming around so quickly.
Jordan Clarke, who hadn't appeared since the 2-2 draw at Bradford City last January, played 90 minutes before being substituted late on.
It was Junior Brown's first appearance in the league since January too, with the left-back playing the full game, while winger Abo Eisa also returned to the team for the first time since October 20th after a chest muscle tear.
Elsewhere, Kevin van Veen played more than 80 minutes as he continued his return from a three-month long knee injury lay-off. It was his first league appearance since March.
United have central defender Tyler Cordner back available again after he served a one-match suspension at the weekend following his red card against Solihull Moors in the Emirates FA Cup first round.
Harrison McGahey returns to the club on Tuesday and could come into contention to be in the squad that takes on the Valiants.
Jake Taylor misses out on facing his former loan club as he has to self-isolate for 14 days after coming into contact with somebody who has tested positive for COVID-19.
On-loan midfielder Frank Vincent has returned to parent club Bournemouth for treatment, and looks set to be out for two months with a thigh strain.
Speaking after the weekend's game, first team manager Neil Cox confirmed Aaron Jarvis missed out through a sore hamstring and though the club are waiting for a full prognosis, he will likely be out until after next Tuesday's home match against Bolton.
PAST MEETINGS...
Back in February, United twice came from behind to gain a point at Vale Park in the league, with Alex Gilliead and George Miller notching the goals.
In total, the two sides have met on 45 occasions with 14 wins apiece. The remaining 17 games have all been draws.
| SEASON/DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2020-21 - Sat 5 Sep | LG CUP R1 | Iron 1-2 Vale | Loft |
| 2019-20 - Sat 29 Feb | LG 2 | Vale 2-2 Iron | Gilliead, Miller |
| 2019-20 - Sat 22 Nov | LG 2 | Iron 2-1 Vale | van Veen, Ntlhe |
| 2016-17 - Sat 27 Jan | LG 1 | Iron 3-2 Vale | Morris (pen), Toney, Hopper |
| 2016-17 - Sat 27 Aug | LG 1 | Vale 3-1 Iron | Morris |
| 2015-16 - Sat 30 Apr | LG 1 | Iron 1-0 Vale | Madden |
| 2015-16 - Sat 12 Dec | LG 1 | Vale 1-1 Iron | King |
| 2014-15 - Tue 14 Apr | LG 1 | Iron 1-1 Vale | Wootton |
| 2014-15 - Tue 21 Oct | LG 1 | Vale 2-2 Iron | Bishop, Taylor |
| 2009-10 - Tue 22 Sep | LG CUP R3 | Iron 2-0 Vale | Hayes, McCann |
| 2006-07 - Mon 1 Jan | LG 1 | Vale 0-0 Iron | |
| 2006-07 - Tue 12 Sep | LG 1 | Iron 3-0 Vale | Sharp (2), Morris |
| 2005-06 - Tue 28 Feb | LG 1 | Vale 1-2 Iron | Sparrow, Taylor |
| 2005-06 - Sat 10 Sep | LG 1 | Iron 2-0 Vale | Hinds, Keogh |
| 1985-86 - Mon 3 Feb | DIV 4 | Vale 3-1 Iron | Graham |
| 1985-86 - Tue 22 Oct | DIV 4 | Iron 0-0 Vale | |
| 1984-85 - Fri 10 May | DIV 4 | Iron 3-3 Vale | Graham, Broddle, Cammack |
| 1984-85 - Sat 22 Dec | DIV 4 | Vale 1-1 Iron | Graham |
| 1983-84 - Tue 17 Apr | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Vale | Bell |
| 1983-84 - Sat 27 Aug | DIV 3 | Vale 0-0 Iron | |
| 1982-83 - Mon 9 May | DIV 4 | Vale 0-1 Iron | Cowling |
| 1982-83 - Tue 2 Nov | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Vale | Cammack |
| 1981-82 - Sat 17 Apr | DIV 4 | Vale 2-1 Iron | Cammack |
| 1981-82 - Sat 5 Dec | DIV 4 | Iron 0-0 Vale | |
| 1980-81 - Tue 3 Mar | DIV 4 | Vale 2-2 Iron | Partridge, Cammack |
| 1980-81 - Tue 24 Feb | DIV 4 | Iron 1-1 Vale | Cammack |
| 1979-80 - Sat 5 Apr | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Vale | Pilling |
| 1979-80 - Wed 26 Dec | DIV 4 | Vale 1-0 Iron | |
| 1978-79 - Tue 27 Mar | DIV 4 | Iron 2-0 Vale | Grimes, Earl |
| 1978-79 - Sat 19 Aug | DIV 4 | Vale 2-2 Iron | Wigg, Pilling |
| 1972-73 - Sat 24 Feb | DIV 3 | Iron 0-1 Vale | |
| 1972-73 - Sat 16 Dec | DIV 3 | Vale 2-0 Iron | |
| 1969-70 - Mon 23 Mar | DIV 4 | Vale 1-2 Iron | Cassidy (2) |
| 1969-70 - Sat 22 Nov | DIV 4 | Iron 2-1 Vale | Heath, Sproson (og) |
| 1968-69 - Sat 5 Apr | DIV 4 | Iron 0-1 Vale | |
| 1968-69 - Sat 28 Sep | DIV 4 | Vale 4-1 Iron | Heath |
| 1964-65 - Fri 9 Apr | DIV 3 | Iron 0-0 Vale | |
| 1964-65 - Sat 28 Nov | DIV 3 | Vale 0-1 Iron | Ratcliffe |
| 1953-54 - Sat 13 Feb | DIV 3N | Vale 0-0 Iron | |
| 1953-54 - Sat 26 Sep | DIV 3N | Iron 0-2 Vale | |
| 1952-53 - Sat 13 Feb | DIV 3N | Vale 4-0 Iron | |
| 1952-53 - Sat 31 Jan | DIV 3N | Iron 1-2 Vale | Mosby |