The Iron host a competitive game at the Sands Venue Stadium for the first time in 182 days on Saturday, with Port Vale coming to North Lincolnshire for Round One of the Carabao Cup.
SCENE-SETTER
First Team Manager Neil Cox takes charge of his Scunthorpe United side for the very first time competitively as the Iron look to make it beyond the first round of the competition for the first time in three seasons.
The side face fellow League Two opposition, who they gained four points from in the league last season, with the win coming on home soil.
THE OPPOSITION
Port Vale narrowly fell to a 2-1 defeat in their opening game of pre-season at home to Blackpool in mid-August, before reversing that scoreline to win against Fleetwood Town in their second game back. Since then, they've won three on the bounce, including a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest and, most recently, victory over Rochdale by the same scoreline - with all three strikes penalties.
Theo Robinson returned to Vale Park to bolster the Valiants' ranks, while David Fitzpatrick and Danny Whitehead also joined the Stoke-on-Trent side. Zak Mills and Devante Rodney were their early additions, with both joining in July.
Their latest recruit was last weekend, with goalkeeper Dino Visser joining the club, while Rhys Browne mutually terminated his contract to leave the Valiants.
The side ended last season in eighth place following a points-per-game finish, although Vale will have felt, had the season continued, they would have made it to the play-offs as they were unbeaten in 10 matches and had recently beaten play-off final winners Northampton Town 1-0. Three consecutive draws, one of which against the Iron, prior to curtailment proved to be their achilles heel when the final table was drawn out.
TEAM NEWS
The Iron will be without forward Kevin van Veen who undergoes a knee operation following two-weeks of self-isolation. The Dutchman will then spend a period of time on the sidelines as he recovers and then works back to full fitness.
New signing Emmanuel Onariase will also miss the opening games of the season with a hernia problem, which has also required an operation to rectify. The former Dagenham and Redbridge central defender played 30 minutes of United's 2-1 win against Hull City Under-23s during pre-season and is back with the physios to recover and get up to full fitness.
New signings Myles Hippolyte, Ryan Loft and Kenan Dünnwald-Turan come into contention for their debuts after joining the club in the last week.
Elsewhere, Jordan Clarke, Harrison McGahey (both calf) and Olufela Olomola (hamstring) are all sidelined for this cup match, although McGahey may have a chance of being fit for the EFL Trophy trip to Lincoln City on Tuesday if he continues to progress.
PAST MEETINGS
The Iron defeated Vale 2-1 at the Sands Venue Stadium back last November, with Kevin van Veen and Kgosi Ntlhe scoring the goals after the side had originally trailed.
Meanwhile, back in February, United twice came from behind to gain a point, with Alex Gilliead and George Miller notching the goals at Vale Park.
In total, the two sides have met on 44 occasions with the Iron marginally ahead with 14 wins to Vale's 13. The remaining 17 games have all been draws.
The two sides have met in the competition once before, back in 2009-10 when it was named the Carling Cup. The tie came in Round Three with a 2-0 Scunthorpe win after extra time setting up a fourth round tie at home to Manchester City.
Elsewhere, two of the previous ties have been in the FA Cup, while one has been in the EFL Trophy. The remaining 40 games have all been in the league.
| SEASON/DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 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 |
ELSEWHERE IN THE CARABAO CUP
Saturday, August 29th
Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Doncaster Rovers
Preston North End 4-0 Mansfield Town
Stevenage 3-3 Portsmouth
*Portsmouth win 3-1 on penalties
Stoke City 0-0 Blackpool
*Stoke City win 5-4 on penalties
Friday, September 4th
Middlesbrough v Shrewsbury Town - 5.30pm
Burton Albion v Accrington Stanley - 7.30pm
Saturday, September 5th
Derby County v Barrow - 12noon
Plymouth Argyle v Queens Park Rangers - 12.30pm
Crawley Town v Millwall - 1pm
Gillingham v Southend United - 1pm
Bristol City v Exeter City - 2pm
Walsall v Sheffield Wednesday - 2.15pm
Barnsley v Nottingham Forest - 3pm
Birmingham City v Cambridge United - 3pm
Bolton Wanderers v Bradford City - 3pm
Crewe Alexandra v Lincoln City - 3pm
Fleetwood Town v Wigan Athletic - 3pm
Forest Green Rovers v Leyton Orient - 3pm
Grimsby Town v Morecambe - 3pm
Ipswich Town v Bristol Rovers - 3pm
Luton Town v Norwich City - 3pm
Milton Keyns Dons v Coventry City - 3pm
Newport County v Swansea City - 3pm
Northampton Town v Cardiff City - 3pm
Oldham Athletic v Carlisle United - 3pm
Oxford United v AFC Wimbledon - 3pm
Peterborough United v Cheltenham Town - 3pm
Reading v Colchester Unied - 3pm
Rochdale v Huddersfield Town - 3pm
Salford City v Rotherham United - 3pm
Sunderland v Hull City - 3pm
Swindon Town v Charlton Athletic - 3pm
Tranmere Rovers v Harrogate Town - 3pm
Sunday, September 6th
Brentford v Wycombe Wanderers - 12noon