Overview
It is beginning to get worrying now: two points from six games have seen the Iron slip towards the relegation zone, and halting the slide is imperative. Preston's start to the season sees them in the bottom three, so it would not be unfair to describe this as an early-season relegation clash.
Iron team news
Jim McNulty's ankle injury is still keeping him out. Garry Thompson and Paris Cowan-Hall will be in the squad but are lacking match fitness. Kevin McDonald, who signed on loan from Burnley last week, was still unable to train on Monday with the back injury he suffered during his first training session with the Iron and is a doubt. Eddie Nolan is eligible to play despite being on loan from Preston, while Freddie Sears will go straight into the squad after joining on loan from West Ham.
Preston team news
Keith Treacy is suspended after being sent off in Saturday's 3-0 loss to Derby. Wayne Brown (hamstring), Chris Brown (knee), Matt James (ankle) and Barry Nicholson (broken leg) are missing. Paul Hayes, the former Scunthorpe player who moved to Deepdale in the summer, started the season as a first-choice forward but has been limited to a place on the bench.
Established: 1881
Nickname: North End, Lilywhites
Historical achievements: Preston have been champions of England twice, and also won the FA Cup the same amount of times. Their glory days, however, were in the early days of the league and they have struggled to recreate those days. They are one of only three teams - along with Wolves and Burnley - to have been champions in all four divisions of the Football League. They reached this landmark in 1996 after winning what was then Division Three. They have spent the past decade in the Championship, finishing in the play-offs four times. A sluggish start to this season under Darren Ferguson looks to have already made a play-off push unlikely.
Manager: Darren Ferguson
Stats and figures
Preston head into this match with the joint worse home form in the division, with four points from six games. Before Iron fans get carried away, though, the only team as bad as them this season are Bristol City - who came to Glanford Park and somehow came away with a 2-0 win. On overall form, the Iron are the second worst team in the division with two points out of their last six games.
Past meetings
Preston have won 10 of the 15 meetings at Deepdale, but the Iron have claimed victory three times. The most recent of Scunthorpe's three victories there came on Boxing Day 2007, when a goal from Martin Paterson was the difference between the sides.
Click here for our full record of meetings between the two sides
Referee
Scott Mathieson (Cheshire)
Betting
Preston 19/20 / Draw 12/5 / Scunthorpe 11/4 (Paddy Power)