Thirteenth-placed Harrogate Town visit Scunthorpe United on Saturday afternoon as two of League Two's in-form sides lock horns at the Sands Venue Stadium.

The Iron have won three of their three last league ties with victories over Grimsby Town, Port Vale and Colchester United easing their relegation woes

The Sulphurites however secured their third win in four games on Tuesday evening as they overcame Carlisle United thanks to a Josh March penalty.

Team news

Scunthorpe will be bolstered by the return of fans favourite Kevin Van Veen and also club captain Jordan Clarke this weekend as the pair returned to full training.

Midfielder Jem Karacan has also trained and will be assessed after recovering from a shoulder injury he picked up in the 1-0 away win over Colchester United last time out.

Harrison McGahey will again miss out for The Iron due to an ongoing thigh injury, he joins Aaron Jarvis (hamstring), Olufela Olomola (knee) and George Hornshaw (ankle) on the sidelines who remain absentees.

For the visitors, manager Simon Weaver has an almost clean bill of health for the short visitor to North Lincolnshire. 

Long term absentee Dan Jones returned to training this week, with just Joe Cracknell and Birmingham City loanee Mitch Roberts the only absentees.

Predicted lineups

Scunthorpe United:

Howard; O'Malley, Taft, Onariase, Clarke; Green, Karacan, Beestin, Gillead; Eisa, Loft.

Neil Cox has said he will assess the progress of Jordan Clarke ahead of Harrogates visit which could mean Jai Rowe could fill in at full back. Ryan Loft and Abo Eisa have been the livewires for Scunthorpe in their recent turnaround, so Kevin van Veen may have to settle for a substitute impact. 

Harrogate Town:

Belshaw; Burrell, Hall, Smith, Francis; Power, Thomson, Falkingham, McPake; March, Martin.

Simon Weaver feels that his side is now well-equipped to go to head too the Sands Venue Stadium and avenge their heaviest loss since promotion to the Football League. With Will Smith and Connor Hall re-establishing their strong centre-back pairing it seems, it may call for a tight affair.

Ones to watch

For the hosts, Jem Karacan has been superb since he joined the side in January and helps add experience to a side that was once desperate for points at the wrong end of the table. Devarn Green's electric pace will no doubt cause issue for the Town defence but Ryan Loft is the clubs top scorer as he hopes to add to his tally of seven this campaign.

As for Harrogate, Jack Muldoon is the clubs leading goal scorer with 11 this season and he will again hope to have a point to prove after spending much of his youth career with The Iron. He did however net Town's equalise at 1-1 in the defeat back in December.

Previous meetings

Harrogate will be hoping to avenge their heaviest defeat of the campaign on Saturday as they fell 5-2 in the reverse fixture on December 1 - Abo Eisa netting twice for Scunthorpe in a dominant display. 

With this only the second ever head to head meeting between the two sides, a win would prove vital to both teams chances of potential play-off pushes with very few points separating the top and bottom half of League Two.

Last time out:

Where to watch on TV 

The game kicks off at 15:00 BST on Saturday 20th February 2021.

It will be streamed on both clubs iFollow channels, available to purchase for just £10.