The Iron host a competitive league game at the Sands Venue Stadium for the first time in 189 days on Saturday, with Newport County arriving in North Lincolnshire for the Sky Bet League Two curtain-raiser.
SCENE-SETTER
First Team Manager Neil Cox takes charge of his Scunthorpe United side in the league for the very first time as the Iron look to get this season's campaign off to a winning start.
The side face Newport County, who finished in 14th place last season after the campaign was curtailed. The Exiles had taken 46 points from their 36 games.
THE OPPOSITION
Newport County got their competitive campaign off to the best possible start when they made it through to Round Two of the Carabao Cup by beating Championship side and fierce Welsh rivals Swansea City 2-0 at Rodney Parade.
Tristan Abrahams notched a brace on the day to set up another home tie in Round Two, this time against Cambridge United. Should they progress to Round Three, they will host Oxford United or Watford.
The side faced Cheltenham Town at home in the EFL Trophy in midweek, but were beaten 1-0 on the night.
Newport played four games in pre-season, most recently beating Hereford United 4-0, while two 50-minute matches against Cardiff City saw them lose 1-0 and 2-0, respectively. The other result warming up for the campaign saw the Exiles draw 1-1 with Bristol Rovers.
Kevin Ellison was the latest player to join the Exiles, penning a one-year deal and joining a new club for the first time in a decade after ten years at Morecambe. The 41-year-old scored 88 goals in that time. Scott Twine, Liam Shepherd, Saikou Janneh, David Longe-King and Ryan Taylor have all arrived at Rodney Parade for the campaign ahead.
TEAM NEWS
Defender Harrison McGahey got his first minutes of pre-season in midweek against Lincoln City in the EFL Trophy, completing 65 minutes in the 1-1 draw at the LNER Stadium - 20 more than initially planned for.
Myles Hippolyte was a used substitute in the game, while Kelsey Mooney and Kenan Dünnwald-Turan are two of the new signings not to feature in either competitive match so far. Injuries picked up in midweek could bring those two into contention, with Andy Dales (dead leg) and Devarn Green (foot) both being assessed after enforced alterations at Lincoln.
United will definitely be without forward Kevin van Veen who underwent a knee operation last Friday, John McAtee who was forced to self-isolate after another member of the squad tested positive for COVID-19, and that player himself, who remains unnamed.
One of Scunthorpe's other new signings Emmanuel Onariase will also continue to miss out following a hernia operation. Elsewhere, Jordan Clarke (calf) and Olufela Olomola (hamstring) are both sidelined for this cup match, while Jai Rowe is also on the injury list after he jarred his knee in training last Thursday.
PAST MEETINGS
The Iron were defeated 2-1 in both games last season, with the last encounter coming in January at the Sands Venue Stadium.
Scunthorpe were in a promising position thanks to Abo Eisa's goal, but Lee Novak's last action in claret and blue was to get sent off on 75 minutes - just three minutes after the Exiles equalised - before their winner came moments later in a bad four-minute spell.
Prior to that, there have been five draws in six, with United winning the other game back in September 1987, which was the last time the Iron took maximum points from this fixture.
| SEASON - DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2019-20 - Sat Jan 11 | LG 2 | Iron 1-2 Newport | Eisa |
| 2019-20 - Sat Oct 19 | LG 2 | Newport 2-1 Iron | O'Brien (og) |
| 2013-14 - Sat Mar 1 | LG 2 | Newport 2-2 Iron | Madden, Syers |
| 2013-14 - Sat Aug 31 | LG 2 | Iron 1-1 Newport | Winnall |
| 1987-88 - Sat Jan 16 | DIV 4 | Newport 1-1 Iron | Taylor |
| 1987-88 - Sat Sep 19 | DIV 4 | Iron 3-1 Newport | Flounders 2, Atkins |
| 1983-84 - Fri Feb 10 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-3 Newport | Brolly 2, Cammack |
| 1983-84 - Sat Sep 24 | DIV 3 | Newport 1-1 Iron | Green |
| 1979-80 - Sat Dec 15 | DIV 4 | Newport 2-1 Iron | Stewart |
| 1979-80 - Sat Oct 20 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-3 Newport | Keeley |
| 1978-79 - Wed Apr 18 | DIV 4 | Newport 2-0 Iron | |
| 1978-79 - Sat Oct 7 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-3 Newport | Deere, Oates |
| 1977-78 - Tue Apr 4 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-0 Newport | Kilmore 2 |
| 1977-78 - Tue Oct 4 | DIV 4 | Newport 3-1 Iron | Farrell |
| 1976-77 - Tue Apr 19 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Newport | Keeley |
| 1976-77 - Fri Jan 28 | DIV 4 | Newport 0-0 Iron | |
| 1975-76 - Sat Jan 10 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-2 Newport | Money |
| 1975-76 - Sat Aug 30 | DIV 4 | Newport 0-0 Iron | |
| 1974-75 - Sat Jan 11 | DIV 4 | Iron 4-1 Newport | Roberts 3, Collier |
| 1974-75 - Sat Dec 7 | DIV 4 | Newport 2-0 Iron | |
| 1973-74 - Sun Feb 17 | DIV 4 | Newport 2-1 Iron | Warnock |
| 1973-74 - Sat Oct 13 | DIV 4 | Iron 0-0 Newport | |
| 1971-72 - Mon May 1 | DIV 4 | Newport 1-0 Iron | |
| 1971-72 - Sat Jan 29 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Newport | Davidson |
| 1970-71 - Sat Apr 17 | DIV 4 | Iron 0-1 Newport | |
| 1970-71 - Sat Oct 10 | DIV 4 | Newport 2-3 Iron | Cassidy 2, Davidson |
| 1969-70 - Sat Mar 28 | DIV 4 | Iron 4-0 Newport | Kerr, Cassidy 2, Davidson |
| 1969-70 - Mon Mar 9 | DIV 4 | Newport 3-0 Iron | |
| 1968-69 - Mon Feb 24 | DIV 4 | Newport 1-1 Iron | Lindsey |
| 1968-69 - Fri Oct 18 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Newport | Heath |
| SCUNTHORPE WINS | DRAWS | NEWPORT WINS | |
| LEAGUE | 8 | 9 | 13 |
| TOTAL | 8 | 9 | 13 |
ELSEWHERE IN SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
Saturday, September 12th
Barrow v Stevenage (3pm)
Bolton Wanderers v Forest Green Rovers (3pm)
Bradford City v Colchester United (3pm)
Cambridge United v Carlisle United (3pm)
Cheltenham Town v Morecambe (3pm)
Mansfield Town v Tranmere Rovers (3pm)
Oldham Athletic v Leyton Orient (3pm)
Port Vale v Crawley Town (3pm)
Salford City v Exeter City (3pm)
Southend United v Harrogate Town (3pm)
Walsall v Grimsby Town (3pm)