Behind Iron curtain... Robbo's inside track

GOAL-GETTER . . . Scunthorpe United's Josh Morris is in a rich vein of scoring form for the Sky Bet League One high-fliers

SCUNTHORPE'S barnstorming start to the season has come as little surprise to Stephen Robinson.

Athletic's manager knows his former Preston playing colleague Graham Alexander well and has kept a close eye on the progress of The Iron, who currently sit four points clear at the top of Sky Bet League One.

Free-scoring - Scunthorpe have netted 29 goals in only 13 league games - and with plenty of options within a strong squad, Robinson reckons his friend's club are up at the top for good reason.

But ahead of tonight's clash at SportsDirect.com Park, he sees no reason why Athletic cannot gain a positive result.

"I know they have had a right go at it and have spent a lot of money," said Robinson. "They probably have two League One-stroke-Championship players for every position.

'GOING FOR IT'

"Graham Alexander is a friend of mine, so I know how he works. I am not surprised at how he has done nor (assistant manager) Chris Lucketti.

"The club is really going for it and have big backing behind them. So we expected it.

"They have taken Lee Turnbull off us as well!

"I have been to see them a couple of times and they are a good team as their position states.

"But there is no team that have battered us. We have been in every match - bar the two home games we have spoken about continuously.

"We are down there because we haven't picked up the points we should have. The performances have been decent, but we need to turn them into points very soon."

Scunthorpe's latest win, a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at home to MK Dons, was their eighth in 13 mathces this season.

Despite that record, though, there have still been some noises concerning Alexander's tactics. Against the Dons, a pair of substitutes - two-goal Paddy Madden and Dutch forward Kevin van Veen - were needed to turn the tide.

"When we see a problem we try to fix it," Alexander told the Scunthorpe Telegraph.

"That is how we went from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 because we didn't score against Charlton with two upfront.

"So we have decided to put three upfront and change it around a bit and that is part of the job.

"We are top of the league, are top scorers and no-one was murmuring when we put four past Walsall with three up front or two past Bury away from home."