Hurst impressed by Cobblers' display against Derby as Scunthorpe lose key men for PTS clash

Hurst made the most of a rare opportunity to scout the opposition when Town entertained the Rams and he was impressed with what he saw during the goalless draw.

The Iron boss is also aware that Cobblers are a tough nut to crack at home having not lost any of their last 10 games at the PTS Stadium in all competitions.

"Northampton’s home record has been excellent," Hurst told Scunthorpe's club website. "I watched their game against Derby on Friday night and they played extremely well.

"They probably felt they could have won that game on a few other days if it had played out the same, and have been picking up some excellent results at home.

“I’ve looked at their games against Morecambe and Crewe, they scored a lot of goals. Within those games there are things you look at that you hope you can cause problems with, but there’s no doubt they’re a big threat and a confident team at this moment in time.

"I’m sure they’ll be thinking back to their game against us at the Sands Venue Stadium where we won comfortably really and it’s going to be a tough, physical encounter.

“They’re in the hunt for promotion and have clearly got threats that we’ll have to deal with. However, I certainly feel we can cause some problems of our own.”

Scunthorpe will be without on-loan Coventry defender Junior Brown this evening while Rory McArdle and Lee Novak, who scored a brace in the reverse fixture, are also absent.

“It’s his (Brown) medial ligament from a tackle during the game against Crewe," said Hurst. "He stayed down for a little while after it and we feared the worst.

“Coming in on Monday, it settled down better than we thought might be the case so we’re hoping it won’t be too long.

“There are no more injuries. Jordan Hallam (hamstring) is making progress while Yann Songo’o (knee) has trained again.

“Rory McArdle (hamstring) is making good progress and I don’t think he’ll be too far away at all, although Tuesday night will be too soon.

“Lee Novak is out suspended but in terms of the ankle knock he sustained at Portsmouth it’s looking promising that we may have him for the weekend.”