People in football often strive to ensure one of the very cliches devised within the game simply isn't true; namely the concept of teams being "on the beach". Playing out late season matches with little care other than ensuring they make their departing flight to Marbella.
Scunthorpe United can probably only dream of such a luxurious concept as the beach, because this season has more resembled a landfill site for the Iron. A never-ending misery in which confirmation of relegation on April 15 and the end of their 72-year stay in the Football League brought anger but also a sense of relief, given the dark cloud that had lingered for so long.
Joey Barton won't want to say it, neither will his players, but with a need for three points and a bountiful supply of goals to give them the best chance of automatic promotion at the expense of Northampton Town, if you were picking an opponent, it'd be Scunthorpe: four wins all season, the last on February 8 and just one point on the road in 2022.
