Team News
Greg Halford is suspended for this fixture for picking up his fifth yellow card at Norwich so Joel Ward will take his place at right back whilst Carl Dickinson returns at left back following a three-game ban.
Steve Cotterill must also decide whether to play Michael Brown or Richard Hughes in the centre of midfield with both only two squad appearances away from automatically renewing their contract on wages that Pompey simply cannot afford.
The Pompey manager has also revealed that a player faces a late fitness test ahead of the match, but won't disclose who it is.
Scunthorpe manager Ian Baraclough can recall midfielder Michael Collins to the side after he recovered from a shoulder injury whilst a former Pompey youngster in Paris Cowan-Hall may make an appearance on the bench.
The Match
If the weather forecast is correct then we can expect a major snowstorm to hit Portsmouth tonight where up to 25cm of snow is expected to cover the ground. If this is the case, then the match tomorrow will certainly be called off.
If the game does go ahead, then this represents a massive opportunity for Pompey to take three points against a side that has lost its last five games and have slid into 23rd place in the Championship.
Despite this, Scunthorpe remain a threat on their travels due to having taken 15 of their 20 points away from Glanford Park and so must be taken seriously, especially with the squad selection dilemma facing Steve Cotterill.
Still, Scunthorpe aren't on such a horrific run for no reason and it seems that Nigel Adkins' defection to the small club down the road has really hit them hard.
Their forwards aren't scoring and their defence are conceding too many sloppy goals, much like Pompey were at the start of the season. Now that Kitson has a goal to his name and after Nugent's performance at Carrow Road, there's no reason why either can't grab a goal or two tomorrow.
Failure to win this match tomorrow would be a huge disappointment but I'm confident that Pompey will do the business tomorrow, so long as the snow doesn't stop the game from happening!
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: Jamie ASHDOWN
RB: Joel WARD
CB: Ricardo ROCHA
CB: Ibrahima SONKO
LB: Carl DICKINSON
RM: Liam LAWRENCE
CM: Hayden MULLINS
CM: Michael BROWN
LM: John UTAKA
CF: David NUGENT
CF: Dave KITSON
Scunthorpe
GK: Joe MURPHY
RB: Clifford BYRNE
CB: Rob JONES
CB: Eddie NOLAN
LB: Michael O'CONNOR
RM: Andrew WRIGHT
CM: Josh WRIGHT
CM: Sam TOGWELL
LM: Martyn WOOLFORD
CF: Chris DAGNALL
CF: Freddie SEARS
Last Time: Portsmouth 2 Scunthorpe United 1 (FA Cup Fourth Round - 24/01/2004)
A brace from Matthew Taylor was enough to see injury-hit Pompey beat their Division Three counterparts. Andy Parton scored a late goal for Brian Laws' men to set up a tense finish but couldn't find an equaliser in stoppage time.
My Prediction
Given that we've come off the back of two impressive away wins and Scunthorpe are on a losing streak they don't look like turning round, you've got to back to boys in Blue.
Portsmouth 3 Scunthorpe United 1