Scunthorpe v Fleetwood: Iron’s dip in form

Dempsey puts a shift in – gettyimages.com

Turn the clock back to mid-November, when Fleetwood Town lost 2-1 at Port Vale. It seemed everybody at the game said that the Cod Army were desperately unlucky, yet they conceded two goals in the final 15 minutes to drop into the bottom half. They were 15 points behind leaders Scunthorpe, who won the fourth of a five game winning streak at Coventry that day.

Following that defeat in Burslem for Fleetwood has been a remarkable unbeaten run of 17 games and counting. Not only have they conceded just nine goals in that time, the ones they score often catch the eye. We have seen fine, free-flowing team moves ended by a piece of quality that would be fit to grace any stage. David Ball has been excellent, Devante Cole is in fine form while Kyle Dempsey does the less glamourous work in midfield, providing a combative edge.

Scunthorpe manager Graham Alexander, who was controversially dismissed by Fleetwood last season, could not have picked a worse time for the Iron to face his old club. The Lincolnshire outfit have endured a woeful February that has seen them go six games without a win and score only four goals.

Unlike Fleetwood, those goals have not involved too much quality: there was an own goal that came after a clumsy back-pass, a free-kick the keeper should have done better with… Naturally some goals involve luck but it inspires more confidence when a team is playing the type of football Fleetwood are to score them.

Rosler’s men have attacking wing-backs in Conor McLaughlin and Amari’i Bell who provide width, a commodity lacking in this Scunthorpe side. Josh Morris and Duane Holmes often stay in the middle, which congests the area strikers Paddy Madden and Craig Davies require space in.

Scunthorpe are above Fleetwood on goal difference but it is hard to escape the feeling that the two teams are on different trajectories.

The Football Lab’s Verdict: 1-2
Betting tip: Fleetwood draw no bet at 6/5