Ellington eager to be available

Scunthorpe hope Nathan Ellington and Josh Walker will both be in contention for the centenary celebration game with Carlisle.

Striker Ellington, on loan from Ipswich, has been sidelined for two matches due to a calf strain, while midfielder Walker has also missed the last two games with ankle ligament damage. "Nathan has done ever so well this week" Iron boss Brian Laws told the club's official website. "He's progressed well and we're hoping he'll be available for Carlisle this weekend. "I'll be very disappointed if he's not fit and ready and, if he is, we'll have a bit more fire-power up front. "Josh has come on really well, the physio is delighted with the progress that he's made and hopefully if he continues to work as hard as he is, he'll be back in the frame soon." Meanwhile, David Mirfin is also hoping to give Laws a boost by returning from a knee ligament injury which has kept him out since early November. Laws added: "Mirfin is very close in my opinion. I think he's still a few weeks away from being fully fit and back training with us and it's about getting it into his mindset that everything is fine and that we intend to get him back in the starting line-up sooner rather than later." Scunthorpe will mark 100 years of professional football at the club when they take on the Cumbrians at Glanford Park on Saturday.