SCUNTHORPE have endured a terrible season – and are still not out of the woods yet.

Like their Valley Parade hosts this weekend, defeat on Tuesday night was their fifth in a row.

A 4-0 thumping at Newport, where they were three down by half-time, means that mathematically the Iron are not safe from the drop.

Barrow’s win meant Scunthorpe slipped to third from bottom – six points ahead of Southend, who can technically still catch them with two games to go.

It is a precarious scenario for Neil Cox’s side, who have won only once in their last 14 outings – when they beat the Bantams in their rearranged visit to Glanford Park last month.

With both sides on losing runs, Cox insists his team will come out fighting.

He said: “They’re in similar form to us, and they’re probably looking forward to the end of the season.

“We’re still in fighting and we need a result - they don’t.

“Are they going to be relaxed about it? I’m not too sure, and it’s not for me to worry about.

“It’s about the 11 I put out on that pitch and making sure they work their socks off to get something out of the game.”

Scunthorpe are missing forwards Ryan Loft and John McAtee, who were forced to travel back from Wales in a taxi after falling ill.

Cox added: “Lofty was ill before the game and managed to get through an hour. They’ve got a bit of a bug, nothing to do with Covid.

“They didn’t travel back with us on the coach to keep them away from the rest of the lads.”

Kevin van Veen trained fine yesterday after taking a whack on the knee.

Staying up would hardly be a reason to celebrate but Iron defender George Taft, who scored an own goal in their last defeat, insists the City game is about restoring pride.

He said: “We’ve got something to play for and that’s all that matters.

“It’s all about us and what we do. We’ve got to go out there on Saturday and show why we’ve got this shirt on.

“We’ve got to finish the season with pride and whatever comes next season, we’ve got to be a lot better.”