Iron winger Mark Duffy has been told to seize his chance in the Scunthorpe United first-team amid high praise from manager Alan Knill.

The tricky 25-year-old has shown in patches what he is capable of following a January switch from Morecambe, but has struggled for consistency and as such has failed to hold down a regular place in the starting XI.

Knill took the bold decision to include Duffy in his front three at the expense of Jimmy Ryan during last weekend's 2-2 draw at Walsall, but the former Liverpool youngster responded with a man-of-the-match performance.

Now the United manager wants to see regular repeats of Duffy's vintage wing play if the former council multi-sports coach is to nail down a place in the Iron first-team.

"He's been like that for probably a week and a half and exceptional in training," enthused the Scunthorpe boss.

"I had a chat with him about everything and what I expect from him, especially with his talent.

"I expect him to be in the top three players everyday and he's been bang on.

"He's a really clever player, takes in information really well and he looks like he enjoys playing how we're trying to play.

"I'm delighted for him and with him, which is a big bonus."

Duffy is one of several fringe players likely to be given a chance to stake a claim for a regular starting berth, as is Garry Thompson, who came off the bench to score at walsall.

A mounting injury list leaves the Iron down to the bare bones for Saturday's League One clash with Yeovil.

Summer signing Ryan  is the latest player to face a spell on the sidelines with a knee ligament injury sustained less than a minute after his injury-time equaliser against the Saddlers. It will rule him out for a month.

Damien Mozika came off at the Banks's Stadium with a hamstring problem, while Andrew Wright is suffering from a similar complaint that meant he missed last weekend's draw.

Niall Canavan (ankle), Matt Godden (hip/hernia) and Andy Barcham (suspended) are all unavailable for the Yeovil game, as are long-term absentees Josh Lillis, Jordan Robertson and Cliff Byrne.

"It's now a chance for others to step up, absolutely," Knill continued.

"The actual team spirit and togetherness is really good and I think you can see that with how we've played with 10 men, twice, and when we've been behind.

"It comes from being together a lot and everybody knowing each other and understanding the end goal is a long way away and it's a slow process to get there.

"I was pleased to see Thommo get up and running last week.

"What he has to give if he's not in the starting XI is impact off the bench and when we had a chat I was pretty frank in telling him he wasn't giving us what we needed.

"The goal last weekend was the best impact of all. It put us back in the game."