"Any old iron, any old iron,
Any any any old iron…"
(Famous music-hall song from long ago, sung most notably by Harry Champion, and more recently by Peter Sellers)
Unusual scorelines (repeated) stay in the memory bank, and whenever I see Scunthorpe United mentioned I automatically think of a 1-4 defeat. Between 2012 and 2016 we managed to lose to The Iron THREE TIMES at home by that margin. Fortunately this game is away, and our most recent visits have produced a win, a draw and a defeat, and no game produced more than a single goal.
The Iron started their League One campaign at The Ricoh stadium, where their game mirrored ours against Plymouth Argyle - they went behind but fought back to win 1-2, and this despite Coventry City featuring their new signing Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila. Scunthorpe’s come-back goal was scored by Stephen Humphrys (on loan from Fulham), who will be one to watch out for. Another of their players who always seems to do well against us is Lee Novak - enough said.
Scunthorpe were good enough last season to make the play-offs but came off second best in their semi-final against Rotherham United, going down 4-2 over the two games.
So we find ourselves in the unforeseen position of top-of-the-table (well, if you ignore goal difference), with the possibility that Dean Keates may further strengthen the squad by the time this fixture kicks off. A strong central midfielder seems to be top of his shopping list, as it’s doubtful whether Football League regulations would allow Adam Chambers to take the field complete with Zimmer Frame - and even though Liam Kinsella performed well in replacing the captain against Plymouth Argyle we are somewhat stretched in that department. In the strikers section we now seem to have almost an embarrassment of riches - the partnership of Andy Cook and Morgan Ferrier got off to a very good start (when it’s considered they only met the day before the game), and it can only improve if both players stay fit. A much-improved Ginnelly and Ismail have the wing positions under their control, and MOM George Dobson has the reliable Fitzwater to venture upfield for the corner kicks.
So … what could possibly go wrong? 
Enough of this positivity!!! Prediction time, and I will be very pleased with a point from this one. Let’s say 1-1, with Andy Cook muscling his way to the scoreline.
