Crawley Town v Scunthorpe: Can Reds bounce back after opening day defeat?

It’s a game where they’ll be looking to pick up their first victory of the season after losing all three of their competitive games so far. The Red Devils’ first league game last weekend ended in a 2-0 defeat away at Port Vale as a poor performance allowed Vale to take all three points on the opening day.

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Crawley will see this as a good chance to bounce back as they return to home soil against a team, they managed to convincingly beat twice last season at The People’s Pension Stadium. Crawley met Saturday’s opponents in the FA Cup where they demolished the Iron 4-1, under Gabriele Cioffi, and beat them 3-1 in a league fixture under John Yems.

Crawley will be looking to get another win against Scunthorpe, but they know they will have to improve their performance, as they created very little, especially in the first half against Port Vale. Saturday’s game could give Tom Nichols and Jake Hessenthaler their first starts for Crawley, as they both made substitute appearances at Vale Park last weekend. Nichols and Hessenthaler were introduced in the 68th minute on Saturday, where Crawley did start to improve and grow into the game, but their efforts weren’t enough to bring Crawley a consolation goal.

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Similarly, to Crawley their opposition are also yet to pick up a victory in the three competitive games they have played this season. Two draws and one defeat hasn’t given Scunthorpe the worst of starts but a win would be much needed and would be a great confidence boost for the Iron. Following relegation in the 2018/19 season from League One, Scunthorpe struggled to adapt to life in League Two and started the season very slowly.

They picked up as the season went on, but they recorded a bottom half finish in League Two and will be looking to move up into the top half of the table this season. They started their League Two campaign off with a 1-1 draw at home with Newport County last weekend. After falling behind in the first half Scunthorpe found an equaliser through striker Ryan Loft. Loft looked dangerous for Scunthorpe throughout and could be a handful for the Crawley defence to deal with.

It should be a good game to watch with both teams fighting for a first win of the season, which would be a big boost for the confidence of either team.