Scunthorpe V Crystal Palace - six pointer?

Scunthorpe travel to Selhurst Park this weekend for what is ultimately a six pointer. If Scunthorpe were to lose the game, they’ll be nine points adrift of Crystal Palace and almost certainly out of the battle for survival. Palace meanwhile would be dragged back into the fight if they were to lose.

A 4-0 victory in this fixture went a long way to making sure Scunthorpe stayed up last year. An impressive win against league leaders QPR last weekend is likely to be the basis of Knill’s team talk prior to the game, however his side will need to quickly forget about the midweek defeat to Reading.

Crystal Palace have young winger Wilfried Zaha available after successfully overturning a ban following his red card at Leicester on Tuesday. Dougie Freedman took over as manager on New Year’s Day and has overseen victories against relegation rivals Preston, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough respectively. Win number four (againt relegation threatened teams) would all but secure their status in the Championship for next season.

Simon Bourne 

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