Scunthorpe United vs Swansea City

Swansea City will be looking to make it 5 wins out of 5 on Saturday afternoon as they face a Scunthorpe United side battling against relegation to League One.

Swans boss Brendan Rodgers won the February Manager of the Month award after guiding his side to 5 wins in 6, and that sort of form has put us up into 2nd place.

Despite the Iron's lowly position and battle against relegation, Scunthorpe will be a tough nut to crack tomorrow as they'll be fighting for everything, plus they're unbeaten in the last 3 at home and that includes a 1-0 win against fellow promotion rivals Nottingham Forest.

Scunthorpe United manager Ian Baraclough:

'I don't think anybody will fancy coming to Glanford Park. 'It will be our home form which will be the key in keeping us up - anything away from home is a bonus.

'Yes, we've not won away for a little while but that was going to happen. 'The home form will be key. Myself, and the players, have every confidence that we can turn anybody over at home.'

Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers:

'Scunthorpe have picked up at home, and they were unlucky to have a good goal disallowed when I watched them at Portsmouth in the week.

'They will have confidence from their last three home results and they are fighting for their lives.'

Defender Paul Reid is still out with a rib injury while striker Chris Dagnal is still sidelined with a knee problem.

Goalkeeper Joe Murphy (ankle), right-back Cliff Byrne (back) are also out while midfielders Michael O'Connor (knee) and Garry Thompson (groin) are closer to returning to full fitness.

from Vital Scunthorpe:

The little winger proved to be a real handful: and when the ball was at his feet - it was the only time he really looked threatening.

He has great speed, power and real ability to whip balls in after beating a man.

He's linked really well with Garner throughout his spell with the club, and proved a real sniip from Morecambe.

If the Iron just had a few more like him: they'd be much more of a potent threat on goal.

Brendan Rodgers is most likely to make a few changes to his team after a fantastic 3-0 win against Leeds United last Saturday.

Darren Pratley and Leon Britton could return to the centre of midfield and Joe Allen may be dropped to the bench once again.

Luke Moore has scored 2 goals in the last 2 games so he'll be hoping to continue that form at Scunthorpe. Craig Beattie is also hoping for a start while Stephen Dobbie has been impressive in an attacking role, but will be compromised for a more balanced midfield?

Garry Monk and Andrea Orlandi are expected to return to training next week so they're still around a week from returning to action, but there's no fresh injury concerns since the Leeds win.

The pacey, skillful winger has been superb for us this season and has caused problems for numerous full backs who've had the misfortune of defending against him. He doesn't usually score many goals himself but he certainly helps create them.

Scunthorpe United haven't scored in the last 2 games - both away.

Scunthorpe are unbeaten in the last 3 at home, that includes a 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest.

Scunthorpe haven't beaten Swansea at home in the last 3 games, the last win was in 2004.

Swansea edge the head to head stats, winning 26 compared to Scunthorpe's 21, with 13 draws.

Swansea are 2nd thanks to four consecutive wins.

Swansea are unbeaten in the last 4 away games, winning the last 3.

A tough one to call, against a team fighting against relegation. They're unbeaten in the last 3 at home but Swansea too are in-form, the most in-form team in the division in fact. The big question is can Swansea City adapt, as the situation and the game itself is a big contrast to last week's at home to Leeds. I expect our confidence and extra quality to shine through, and edge us a closely-fought 2-1 win.

Tuesday 8th March 2011
Swansea vs Watford
7:45pm

Saturday 13th March 2011
Derby vs Swansea
3pm

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