The Iron enter Saturday's home Sky Bet League Two game against Cheltenham Town looking to register four home wins in a row for the first time since April 2017.
SCENE-SETTER...
United come into it on the back of Tuesday's 2-0 away loss at Bolton Wanderers, in which a controversial penalty decision went against Neil Cox's team. Prior to then, the side had won their last four matches in the league.
The result leaves us 16th in the division but a victory on Saturday could take the Iron up a place or two, and would back up recent home successes over Grimsby Town (3-0), Port Vale (2-0) and Harrogate Town (3-1).
TEAM NEWS...
Harrison McGahey played the second 45 minutes at Bolton Wanderers, returning from a hamstring injury which, with the exception of the first half at Barrow in January, had kept him out for two-and-a-half months.
Emmanuel Onariase will be assessed ahead of the game, after he missed the midweek match with a groin problem.
Striker Aaron Jarvis (hamstring) continues to be missing for around a month, while fellow forward Olufela Olomola is back training following a knee injury sustained after coming off the bench against Bolton Wanderers in November, but Cox says he needs to Under-23s game time to get match fitness up first. He played in a behind-closed-doors game against Doncaster on Wednesday.
Midfielder George Hornshaw, who has played at right-back this season, faces a 'few months out' following an ankle operation, while goalkeeper Adam Kelsey will be out for a while too - also after an operation on his ankle.
THE OPPOSITION...
Cheltenham Town find themselves in the automatic promotion places, sitting third in the division, and arrive full of confidence after a 1-0 victory away at league leaders Cambridge United on Tuesday night. It was a perfect response to a 2-0 home loss against Bradford City in their previous outing. Before then, they had been eight matches unbeaten.
Top scorer for the Robins is Alfie May with nine strikes to his name, and he also leads their assists table having set up six goals.
Midfielder Ben Tozer tops the appearance table with 29 league starts to his name, and is closely followed by goalkeeper Joshua Griffiths and defender Charlie Raglan on 28 apiece.
PAST MEETINGS...
United were defeated 1-0 at Cheltenham Town back in October, with Reuben Reid scoring a fifth-minute penalty.
John McAtee was on target last February when the two sides last met at the Sands Venue Stadium. He netted the only goal of the game in the 17th minute.
| SEASON - DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2020-21 - Tue Oct 20 | LG 2 | Cheltenham 1-0 Iron | |
| 2019-20 - Sat Feb 8 | LG 2 | Iron 1-0 Cheltenham | McAtee |
| 2019-20 - Sat Aug 10 | LG 2 | Cheltenham 4-1 Iron | Novak |
| 2013-14 - Tue Mar 25 | LG 2 | Cheltenham 0-2 Iron | Winnall 2 |
| 2013-14 - Sat Oct 5 | LG 2 | Iron 2-0 Cheltenham | Esajas, Winnall |
| 2008-09 - Tue Apr 28 | LG 1 | Iron 3-0 Cheltenham | Hayes, Byrne, Lansbury |
| 2008-09 - Sat Oct 18 | LG 1 | Cheltenham 1-2 Iron | Hooper, Sparrow |
| 2006-07 - Tue Jan 16 | LG 1 | Cheltenham 1-1 Iron | Sharp |
| 2006-07 - Tue Nov 21 | FAC R1 R | Iron 2-0 Cheltenham | Baraclough, Sharp |
| 2006-07 - Fri Nov 10 | FAC R1 | Cheltenham 0-0 Iron | |
| 2006-07 - Sat Sep 16 | LG 1 | Iron 1-0 Cheltenham | Keogh |
| 2004-05 - Sat Mar 12 | LG 2 | Iron 4-1 Cheltenham | Sparrow 2, Kell, Byrne |
| 2004-05 - Tue Aug 10 | LG 2 | Cheltenham 0-2 Iron | Kell, Keogh |
| 2003-04 - Mon Apr 12 | DIV 3 | Cheltenham 2-1 Iron | Groves |
| 2003-04 - Tue Sep 30 | DIV 3 | Iron 5-2 Cheltenham | MacLean 3, Beagrie, Torpey |
| 2001-02 - Sat Mar 30 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-2 Cheltenham | Garcia |
| 2001-02 - Sat Oct 27 | DIV 3 | Cheltenham 3-3 Iron | Carruthers, Beagrie, Quailey |
| 2000-01 - Tue Feb 27 | DIV 3 | Cheltenham 1-0 Iron | |
| 2000-01 - Sat Dec 23 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Cheltenham | Torpey |
| SCUNTHORPE WINS | DRAW | CHELTENHAM WINS | |
| LEAGUE | 9 | 3 | 5 |
| FA CUP | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 10 | 4 | 5 |
ELSEWHERE IN SKY BET LEAGUE TWO...
Crawley Town v Exeter City (1pm)
Bolton Wanderers v Barrow (3pm)
Carlisle United v Oldham Athletic (3pm)
Harrogate Town v Grimsby Town (3pm)
Leyton Orient v Tranmere Rovers (3pm)
Mansfield Town v Morecambe (3pm)
Newport County v Stevenage (3pm)
Port Vale v Cambridge United (3pm)
Southend United v Salford City (3pm)
Walsall v Bradford City (3pm)
Forest Green Rovers v Colchester United (5.30pm)