SCENE-SETTER
Following the disappointment of last weekend’s loss to local rivals Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe will be hoping to recover as quickly as possible with a strong performance and result at the Colchester Community Stadium.
The last two away games at Port Vale and Swindon Town saw encouraging performances, and Russ Wilcox’s side will be hoping they can perform well against a promotion contender once again following recent victories over Cheltenham Town and Forest Green Rovers.
A win could take the Iron up to 17th in the division.
John McGreal’s Colchester sit sixth and were 3-0 away winners at Carlisle United last time out, with the game settled by a two goal burst by Kwame Poku and Luke Norris just before half-time.
TEAM NEWS
Levi Sutton misses the first game of a four match suspension, which comes after his second red card of the season in last week's game against Grimsby Town.
Abo Eisa (hamstring) has been back training for a couple of days this week and will be assessed on Friday before the Iron make the trip to Essex.
Defender Harrison McGahey is also back training after recovering from concussion but is likely to miss out as he's missed the last month and Russ Wilcox feels the game will come too soon in his recovery.
Ryan Colclough misses out with a back injury, but Junior Brown is edging closer to a return from medial ligament damage and has been back training fully for two weeks.
Elsewhere, Jordan Clarke could return sooner than originally anticipated from a calf injury, as he was originally out until late April.
Meanwhile, Kgosi Ntlhe is out with an Achilles injury and could miss the rest of the season after an operation last week.
Regan Slater (recovering from an ankle injury) is upping his game time for Sheffield United Under-23s before he returns to contention.
Alfie Beestin (hamstring) is back on the grass jogging and isn’t too far away, as is Jordan Hallam (hamstring).
LAST TIME OUT
The Iron and Colchester played out a 2-2 draw at the Sands Venue Stadium earlier this season, which saw Abo Eisa and Kevin van Veen on the scoresheet before United were pegged back by two second-half U’s strikes.
Our last away game there saw a 2-2 draw played out, with van Veen scoring a free-kick and Paddy Madden also on target.
| SEASON - DATE | COMPETITION | RESULT | IRON SCORERS |
| 2019-20 - Sat Dec 14 | LG 2 | Iron 2-2 Colchester | Eisa, van Veen |
| 2015-16 - Sat Jan 23 | LG 1 | Iron 3-0 Colchester | Hopper, Madden 2 |
| 2015-16 - Sat Aug 29 | LG 1 | Colchester 2-2 Iron | Van Veen, Madden |
| 2014-15 - Sat Apr 18 | LG 1 | Colchester 2-2 Iron | Robinson, Adelakun |
| 2014-15 - Sat Oct 14 | LG 1 | Iron 1-1 Colchester | Fallon |
| 2012-13 - Sat Jan 12 | LG 1 | Colchester 1-2 Iron | Ryan, Hawley |
| 2012-13 - Sat Sep 22 | LG 1 | Iron 1-0 Colchester | Clarke |
| 2011-12 - Sat Jan 14 | LG 1 | Colchester 1-1 Iron | Walker |
| 2011-12 - Sat Sep 3 | LG 1 | Iron 1-1 Colchester | Grant |
| 2008-09 - Sat Mar 28 | LG 1 | Iron 3-0 Colchester | Hooper 2, Lansbury |
| 2008-09 - Sat Dec 20 | LG 1 | Colchester 0-0 Iron | |
| 2007-08 - Sun May 4 | CHAMP | Iron 3-3 Colchester | Forte, Hayes 2 |
| 2007-08 - Sat Sep 29 | CHAMP | Colchester 0-1 Iron | Hayes |
| 2005-06 - Sat Mar 25 | LG 1 | Iron 0-0 Colchester | |
| 2005-06 - Tue Feb 7 | LG 1 | Colchester 1-0 Iron | |
| 1999-00 - Sat Mar 4 | DIV 2 | Iron 0-0 Colchester | |
| 1999-00 - Sat Sep 11 | DIV 2 | Colchester 0-1 Iron | Hodges |
| 1997-98 - Sat Mar 7 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-0 Colchester | McAuley |
| 1997-98 - Fri Oct 31 | DIV 3 | Colchester 3-3 Iron | Hope, D'Auria 2 |
| 1996-97 - Sat Feb 22 | DIV 3 | Iron 2-1 Colchester | D'Auria, Jones |
| 1996-97 - Tue Nov 19 | DIV 3 | Colchester 1-1 Iron | Clarkson |
| 1995-96 - Sat Dec 16 | DIV 3 | Colchester 2-1 Iron | Young |
| 1995-96 - Sat Sep 30 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-0 Colchester | Eyre |
| 1994-95 - Sat Feb 4 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-4 Colchester | Eyre 2, Bullimore |
| 1994-95 - Sat Nov 26 | DIV 3 | Colchester 4-2 Iron | Knill, Thornber |
| 1993-94 - Sat Jan 22 | DIV 3 | Iron 1-1 Colchester | Carmichael |
| 1993-94 - Sat Oct 9 | DIV 3 | Colchester 2-1 Iron | Carmichael |
| 1992-93 - Sat May 1 | DIV 3 | Colchester 1-0 Iron | |
| 1992-93 - Sat Oct 24 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-1 Colchester | Daws, Martin, Helliwell |
| 1989-90 - Sat Mar 31 | DIV 4 | Colchester 1-0 Iron | |
| 1989-90 - Sat Oct 21 | DIV 4 | Iron 4-0 Colchester | Stevenson, Daws, Hamilton, Taylor |
| 1988-89 - Sat Feb 18 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-3 Colchester | Lister, Nicol |
| 1988-89 - Sat Oct 8 | DIV 4 | Colchester 1-2 Iron | Flounders, Richardson |
| 1987-88 - Fri Jan 1 | DIV 4 | Colchester 0-3 Iron | Daws 2, Lister |
| 1987-88 - Sat Aug 29 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-2 Colchester | Johnson, Flounders |
| 1986-87 - Sat Jan 3 | DIV 4 | Colchester 1-0 Iron | |
| 1986-87 - Fri 21 Nov | DIV 4 | Iron 5-2 Colchester | Lister, Broddle, Johnson 2, McLean |
| 1985-86 - Tue Apr 15 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-1 Colchester | Dixon |
| 1985-86 - Fri Oct 18 | DIV 4 | Colchester 1-1 Iron | Broddle |
| 1984-85 - Tue Apr 2 | DIV 4 | Colchester 1-1 Iron | Broddle |
| 1984-85 - Fri Aug 31 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-2 Colchester | Cammack, Cowling |
| 1982-83 - Fri Apr 15 | DIV 4 | Colchester 5-1 Iron | Cammack |
| 1982-83 - Sat Oct 2 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-1 Colchester | O'Berg, Angus |
| 1981-82 - Fri Apr 2 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-1 Colchester | Moss, Telfer |
| 1981-82 - Fri Nov 13 | DIV 4 | Colchester 2-1 Iron | Stewart |
| 1976-77 - Sat Apr 2 | DIV 4 | Colchester 1-1 Iron | Lumby |
| 1976-77 - Sat Oct 23 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-0 Colchester | Keeley, Pilling |
| 1973-74 - Sat Mar 16 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-0 Colchester | Keeley |
| 1973-74 - Fri Oct 19 | DIV 4 | Colchester 2-0 Iron | |
| 1971-72 - Fri Jan 21 | DIV 4 | Colchester 1-1 Iron | Fletcher |
| 1971-72 - Tue Sep 28 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-0 Colchester | Fletcher, Davidson |
| 1970-71 - Mon Mar 22 | DIV 4 | Colchester 2-0 Iron | |
| 1970-71 - Tue Mar 16 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-0 Colchester | Woolmer, O'Riley |
| 1969-70 - Tue Jan 27 | DIV 4 | Iron 1-1 Colchester | Cassidy |
| 1969-70 - Mon Sep 29 | DIV 4 | Colchester 0-2 Iron | Deere, Heath |
| 1968-69 - Tue Oct 8 | DIV 4 | Iron 2-3 Colchester | Kerr, Heath |
| 1968-69 - Mon Aug 26 | DIV 4 | Colchester 0-4 Iron | Kerr 2, Heath, Deere |
| 1967-68 - Sat Mar 9 | DIV 3 | Iron 5-1 Colchester | Colquhoun 2, Punton, Heath, Deere |
| 1967-68 - Mon Feb 26 | DIV 3 | Colchester 1-0 Iron | |
| 1966-67 - Sat Feb 11 | DIV 3 | Colchester 0-1 Iron | Sloan |
| 1966-67 - Fri Sep 30 | DIV 3 | Iron 3-1 Colchester | Loughton og, Thomas, Smith |
| 1964-65 - Sat Apr 3 | DIV 3 | Colchester 2-1 Iron | Lindsey |
| 1964-65 - Fri Nov 20 | DIV 3 | Iron 0-0 Colchester |
| SCUNTHORPE WINS | DRAWS | COLCHESTER WINS | |
| LEAGUE | 25 | 22 | 16 |
| TOTAL | 25 | 22 | 16 |
ELSEWHERE IN LEAGUE TWO
Bradford City v Leyton Orient
Cambridge United v Cheltenham Town
Exeter City v Salford City
Forest Green Rovers v Northampton Town
Grimsby Town v Carlisle United
Macclesfield Town v Walsall
Mansfield Town v Crewe Alexandra
Morecambe v Plymouth Argyle
Oldham Athletic v Swindon Town
Port Vale v Crawley Town
Stevenage v Newport County
