PREVIEW: Scunthorpe

It's a Happy New Year one and all with a first day of January visit to Glanford Park.

The Iron went into November with just one win from 10 league games and that signalled the end of the line for manager Neil Cox, as the club propped up the Football League.

It was a tough call to make, with the former-Villa, Boro and Bolton defender having started his playing career at Glanford Park.

Fast-forward four days and Keith Hill was appointed, bringing experience and knowledge of the level to the mix.

Another team that's harder to beat than the league table suggests, Scunthorpe have rattled up 10 draws but, heading into the festive run, had only managed two wins from their 21 league games.

A lack of goals has been the main cause of that inability to claim three points, with just 16 scored along the way.

The leaky defence has been another issue, with 37 conceded the second highest number of goals against in the division.

Boxing Day brought some Christmas cheer with a 3-1 away win at Oldham. The Iron went behind early in the piece but a brace from Ryan Loft and a late goal from Myles Hippolyte made it a comfortable win.

That's now four draws and a victory from their last five league outings. 

Midfielder Alfie Beestin has just the one goal to his name so far this season, but he's a regular starter and a popular player with the home fans.

The 24-year-old livewire has become a mainstay over the last two difficult seasons and has over 70 appearances for the club to his name.

If available (he missed the Oldham game) he'll want the ball, and he'll use it well when he gets it.

Click HERE to purchase a match pass which will allow you to LISTEN to this fixture via our match streaming service. 

With match commentary provided by BBC Radio Cumbria, this is a fantastic way to follow your team through the season.

Match audio passes are available for ALL EFL league games - click HERE to find out more about this season’s iFollow United service.

The Iron raced into a two-goal lead at Brunton Park in September 2021 with goals before the break from Aaron Jarvis and Emmanuel Onariase, but the Cumbrians kept going, and late strikes from Jordan Gibson and Brennan Dickenson meant that the spoils were shared.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

The Tuesday night meeting in April 2021 brought a brace from Jon Mellish which was enough to keep the points in Cumbria.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

United were at Glanford Park in September 2020 and a first half goal from Jordan Hallam was enough to secure a win for the hosts.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

These teams met in August 2019 and it was one of Scunthorpe's summer signings who proved to be the difference - a certain Mr Ryan Loft. he was on-loan from Leicester at the time and he struck bang on the hour mark to make sure the points went back to Cumbria.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

Referee - Ben Toner (replacing Robert Madley)
Assistant Referee 1 - Christopher Ward
Assistant Referee 2 - Declan Ford
Fourth Official - Hristo Karaivanov
Observer - John Jones

Our referee for this game is Mr Ben Toner. He has taken charge of 16 games so far this season showing 41 yellow cards and three reds.

A regular with us over the years, he was at Brunton Park for the October 2020 visit of Barrow - a historic first league meeting between the clubs after a 56-year gap - and what an eventful day it turned out to be! Jon Mellish got the only goal of the game, but with seven yellows and a red card (Aaron Hayden) there was plenty for him to do. Mellish, Nick Anderton and Callum Guy all had their names taken.

He was with us for the festive visit to Walsall in December 2019. All of the goals came in the second half, with Nathan Thomas and Harry McKirdy [with an injury time winner] doing the real damage as the Blues won 2-1. Jamers Clarke was sent off for the Saddlers and Aaron Hayden went in the book for us.

He was our main match official at the start of the 2019/20 campaign for our Carabao Cup meeting with Barnsley at Oakwell. Goals from Harry McKirdy, Jack Bridge [pen] and Nathan Thomas sealed a comfortable victory and no Carlisle names were taken on the night.

Our first meeting with him during the 2018/19 season was for the 2-1 victory over Port Vale at Brunton Park in August. A Danny Grainger penalty and a Tom Parkes header were enough to see the Blues earn the three points with no cards shown

The Checkatrade Trophy fixture at the Stadium of Light was the second United game he oversaw that term, with the Black Cats running out as 3-1 winners. Ashley Nadesan got the United goal and, once again, the cards stayed in his pocket.

New Year's Day 2019 took us to Morecambe, Jamie Devitt and Jack Sowerby got the goals, and Kelvin Etuhu and Anthony Gerrard had their names recorded in the book.

And last, but not least, was our 2-1 home victory over Swindon in March 2019. Hallam Hope and Callum O'Hare scored our goals with Gary Liddle going in the book for a late challenge.