Scunthorpe Preview

The Manager

Star Player

Past Positions

Past Meetings

The last time the two rivals met in a competitive match was in the 1997/98 season when Town beat the Iron on the road to Wembley in the Auto Windscreens shield. The score was 2-0 on that night with goals coming from Wayne Burnett and Paul Groves. The last time before that was in the 1989/1990 season when Town defeated them 2-1. But all of this is irrelevant! In fact, Scunthorpe usually beat Town in friendlies, but we should remember who's in division one and who's in division three!

Scunthorpe Head-to-Head

Last Season

Last season was one of inconsistency for the Iron. A very good start saw then reach the dizzy heights of 2nd. But then a spell at Christmas until about January saw them plummet down the table to 13th place, where at one stage saw them 10 points adrift of the play-offs. But then a late season charge saw them back into the play off places, with Lee Hodges and Guy Ipoua leading the show. Unfortunately they could not sustain their challenge, and lost their last three games, seeing them narrowly miss out on a play off place.

Hopes For This Season

Scunthorpe will once again hope for a play-off place, where they always come close to when the season ends. Brian Laws' men have certainly signaled their ambition to go up, with the signings of Peter Beagrie, Kim Grant and Carl Bradshaw. They also have some other useful players too with the likes of Martin Curruthers, Steve Torpey, Lee Hodges and the fit again Nigel Pepper who have all proven to be good players, especially Hodges who was wanted by many other Nationwide teams, before signing a one year deal. But with gaps still left in their sometimes "leaky" defence, I think that realistically Scunny will probably just hover around mid-table. But with Brian Laws as manager, who knows?

Ins/Outs

Prediction For Game

Who knows? Quite frankly, it depends upon whether Town can be bothered! Last season they beat the Iron 2-0, but that means nothing. Scunny recently held Man City to a 2-2 draw, so don't be surprised if Town slip up! But Town have enough quality to break Scunthorpe down, providing they can keep the likes Beagrie and Torpey quiet. Like most managers are saying, pre-season is there to get fitness levels up and reach an understanding between the players and the score could be anything. Although a goal for Town would be nicer than anything.

Fishy prediction: 3-1 to the Mariners,

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