Scunthorpe United vs. Tranmere Rovers match preview

Last updated : 15 December 2008 By Matthew Jones
Rovers looking to book place in Nothern Final
Both Tranmere and Scunthorpe have enjoyed a good run in the Johnstone's Paints Trophy so far this season, and this week they face each other in the semi final of the Northern Section of the Trophy.

In an all League One clash, each team will be desperate for a victory as they look to book their place in a two legged final against one of Rotherham or Darlington, both of League Two, with the propsect of a trip to Wembley spurring the sides on further.


Scunthorpe United team profile:

Formed: 1899

Ground: Glanford Park

Manager: Nigel Adkins

Nickname: The Iron

Season Finish 2005/06: 23rd (Coca-Cola Championship)

Previous Meetings:

These two sides have already met once this season, when the two sides played out a League fixture at Prenton Park just three weeks ago.

On that night, Tranmere were by far the better side, winning comfortably against a Scunthorpe side lacking in quality and energy to win the game.

Tranmere took the lead just before half-time, when Edrissa Sonko, only playing as Chris Shuker had the flu, ran clear of the Scunthorpe defence as he chased after a Bas Savage flick-on, before collecting the ball and lobbing home over former Rovers 'keeper Joe Murphy from the edge of the area.

Rovers had several chances to double their lead, Sonko and Kay missing chances for Tranmere, before Shotton made it 2-0 on 75-minutes, breaking into the penalty area down the Rovers right and firing home past Murphy at his near post.

Scunthorpe had a couple of chances to score, most notably after half-time when Danny Coyne made a terrific save from Togwell, whilst Hooper also came close, but ultimately Rovers were able to keep a clean sheet and pick up an excellent 2-0 win.

Vital Stats:

The last 24 meetings between these two sides have produced just one draw. Should this game end all-square after 90 minutes, a penalty shoot out will decide the winner

In 25 home away against Scunthorpe, Tranmere have picked up six wins and six draws

Tranmere have won two out of seven cup meetings between the two sides

52 previous meetings between the two sides have produced just one 0-0 draw

Tranmere have lost only two out of eleven Tuesday night meetings with Scunthorpe


On This Day:

2000: Rovers lose 3-1 away to Fulham in Division One

1995: John King's Tranmere suffer a demoralising 3-0 defeat at Watford

1988: Tranmere beat Darlington 2-0 at Prenton Park in Division Four

Tranmere have played nine previous fixtures on December 16th, picking up five wins, one draw and three defeats. They have scored seventeen goals and conceded eleven on this day.

The Form Book:

Scunthorpe last 6 home games: DWLWDW
Tranmere last 6 away games: LDLDLD

Nigel Adkin's Scunthorpe United have had a strong first half of the season, this after being relegated from the Coca-Cola Championship last season after just one season in the second tier of English Football.

Scunthorpe started their six match sequence with a 3-2 win over high flying Millwall, Hooper, Hayes and Sparrow netting for the Iron, before they drew 3-3 with Swindon Town a week later at Glanford Park.

A 1-0 win over Rochdale then secured their place in the semi-final of the Johnstone's Paints Northern Section before Leicester travelled to Lincolnshire and became the first club to beat Scunthorpe at Glanford Park since the opening day of the season, King netting a 81st minute goal for the Foxes to earn Leicester a 2-1 win.

Scunthorpe then hammered none-League Alfreton Town 4-0 in the F.A. Cup second round before in their most recent match, Scunthorpe drew 4-4 at home to Northampton Town, Hooper and May each scoring twice to put Scunthorpe 4-1 up before the Cobblers pulled it back after half-time.

Other notable home results for Scunthorpe this season include wins over Peterborough United (1-0), Crewe Alexandra (3-0) and Yeovil Town (2-0).

Scunthorpe United have played fourteen home games this season, picking up nine wins, three draws and two defeats, whilst they have won five out of ten home league matches. They have won four out of four home cup matches this season.

Impressive results away from Glanford Park for Scunthorpe include wins over Stockport County (3-0), Brighton and Hove Albion (4-1) and MK Dons (2-0).

The Iron come into this game in fifth place in the League One table, having picked up 37 of an available 60 points, thanks to eleven wins, four draws and five defeats.

Scunthorpe reached the Northern semi-final of this seasons Johnstone's Paints Trophy with home wins over Notts County (2-1), Grimsby Town (2-1) and Rochdale (1-0).

Tranmere Rovers' away form in the past six weeks has been nothing short of shocking, with the Wirral side not only having failed to win in any of their last six away matches, but they have also failed to score.

Rovers started their six match sequence with a 0-0 draw away at Stockport County, before the Prenton Park side suffered an unlucky 1-0 defeat at MK Dons, Kevin Gallen scoring the winner for the Bletchley side with less than ten minutes left.

Ronnie Moore's side then drew a poor F.A. Cup First Round match at Accrington Stanley 0-0, before suffering another 1-0 defeat, this time losing to Yeovil Town with a heavily depleated squad due to injury, suspension and the flu.

Another goalless game followed though, a third 0-0 draw in five matches at Peterborough United in the F.A. Cup second round whilst in their most recent away game, Tranmere lost 2-0 at Bristol Rovers, having just two weak shots on target in the entire game.

Other notable results on the road for Tranmere include wins away to Leyton Orient (1-0), Carlisle United (2-1) and Huddersfield Town (2-1),.

So far this season, Tranmere have played thireteen away games, picking up three wins, four draws and six defeats. In the league, three wins and two draws from ten games mean they have picked up eleven of an available 30 points.

Impressive results at Prenton Park for Tranmere include wins against Scunthorpe United (2-0), Leeds United (2-1), Northampton Town (4-1) and Hartlepool United (1-0).

Rovers come into this game in ninth place in the League One table, having picked up 30 an available 60 points in their opening twenty games, thanks to nine wins, three draws and eight defeats.

Ronnie Moore's side reached this stage of the Johnstone's Paints Trophy with three 1-0 home wins, beating Accrington Stanley (Sonko), Crewe Alexandra (Shuker) and Morecambe (Shotton).

This is in fact Tranmere's first away fixtures in the competition since the first round of the 2006/07 tournament, when Rovers won 2-0 away at Bury thanks to goals from Chris Shuker and Steven Jennings.

Double Hit:

Current Scunthorpe United goalkeeper Joe Murphy started his career at Prenton Park, rising the clubs youth system and going on to appear in the League Cup final for the club.

A full Irish international, The goalkeeper broke into the Tranmere team when John Aldridge was manager and over four seasons with the club he managed to make 75 league and cup appearances for the Super Whites before joining West Brom on a free transfer in July 2002.

On his West Brom debut, Murphy saved a Michael Owen penalty, yet despite this, he failed to ever break into the team, making just seven appearances over a three year spell with the Baggies, something that without doubt stiffled his career.

After a loan spell at Walsall during the 04/05 season, Murphy joined Sunderland on a free-transfer, yet here he didn't make a single appearance and again he joined Walsall on loan, making a total of 43 appearances for the Saddlers over his two loan spells at the Bescott Stadium.

In May 2006, Murphy joined Scunthorpe United on a free transfer and he has been their number one choice goalkeeper ever since.

Helping the club into the Championship with a string of fine performances during the 2006/07 season, Murphy has been a huge hit at Glanford Park, so far making 119 appearances for The Iron.

Standing at over 6 foot tall, Murphy, who still has many friends at Prenton Park, is a fine goalkeeper for a League One side, and has one full cap for Ireland to his name.

One To Watch: Gary Hooper

Free-scoring striker Gary Hooper joined Scunthorpe United in the summer for £175,000 from Southend United, where the striker had failed to make an impression.

He started his career with Grays in Non-League football before joining Southend on a free transfer in time for the start of the 2006/07 season.

However, Hooper never found his feet at Southend, making 44 appearances for the club, although well over half of them were from the substitutes bench, scoring four times.

He also spent time out on loan with Leyton Orient and then last season at Hereford, where Hooper was very successful, netting eleven times in nineteen games, enough to convince Scunthorpe to splash the cash on the payer.

Joining Scunthorpe, Hooper had big boots to fill, with the likes of Billy Sharp and Andy Keogh having played for the club in the last few years.

Hooper has however filled those boots, or perhaps that should be filled his boots, having played 24 games and scored fifteen for the club since his big money move in July.

Wearing the number ten shirt for Scunthorpe, striker Hooper, who can also play in midfield, is just twenty years old and there is most definately plenty more to come from a player who is already setting League One alight with his form this season.

He is quick and although not tall, this doesn't effect his game, as Hooper is a very good finisher from inside the area whilst he will work tirelessly all game.

The Johnstone's Paints Trophy:

All four games in the Johnstone's Paints Trophy are being played this Tuesday night, with two games in the Northern Section and two in the Southern Section of the trophy.

In the Northern Section, as well as Tranmere's meeting with Scunthorpe at Glanford Park, Darlington travel to Rotherham in an all League Two, with the winners of each match facing each other in a two legged final in January.

The Southern Section sees League Two Shrewsbury Town host Brighton in a match that is live on Sky TV, with the winners facing the winner of another League Two vs. League One match, with financially struggling Luton hosting Colchester United at Kenilworth Road.

Team News:

Ronnie Moore will again be without striker Craig Curran who has not played any competative match since September and is set to line up for the reserves on Wednesday night, whilst Danny Holmes (thigh) and Chris Greenacre (back) are also strugglng and likely to miss out. George O'Callaghan will once again be absent whilst striker Bas Savage could be rested.


Jones' Prediction:
Scunthorpe United 0-1 Tranmere Rovers

This is set up to be an intriguing match, with Scunthorpe struggling to keep clean sheets and Ronnie Moore's Tranmere struggling to score on the road.

Rovers come into this game having played 591 minutes away from Prenton Park since they last scored, and fans will be desperate that that can all change in this fixture as they look to plan a trip to Wembley in April.

Both sides will go for this game as it has to be decided on the night, and with Tranmere's abysmal history of penalty shoot outs, Rovers fans will be desperate for their side to win the match within the 90 minutes.

Only three weeks ago, Tranmere had the measure of Scunthorpe when they beat the Iron 2-0 at Prenton Park in League One and Rovers will be looking for a repeat performance and result in this fixture.

Of course, on that evening Rovers played their 4-4-2 formation and it is surely vital that they line up with that for this game too. Six games away from home playing 4-5-1 has failed to yield a goal, and with Bas Savage looking more and more iscolated upfront, and Rovers looking less and less likely to score, it is vital that Ronnie Moore gives Savage a striker partner for this fixture.

That could mean one of two things - either Ian Moore moving upfront and Shuker starting on the wing, or Terry Gornell starting in place of one of the three central midfielders. Either way, Rovers need more firepower up front if they are to score more goals.

After Saturday's dire performance at Bristol Rovers though, it is also key for Rovers that they tighten up in defence. A culmination of errors led to both Bristol Rovers goals and if they continue then changes will also have to be made at the back, where Ian Goodison has been faltering in recent weeks.