Eoghan O’Connell fitness boost as Rochdale prepare to host Scunthorpe

Rochdale captain Eoghan O’Connell could return for their first home game of the Sky Bet League Two season against Scunthorpe on Saturday.

The 26-year-old returned to training on Thursday after sustaining an Achilles injury in a pre-season game against Fylde and is in contention to start.

Abraham Odoh is hoping to be involved at Spotland and Jimmy Keohane has been training with a brace on his injured shoulder so may be an option for manager Robbie Stockdale.

On-loan Birmingham forward Josh Andrews is in line to make his debut for the Dale.

Jordan Hallam is set to miss Scunthorpe’s trip to Lancashire as a precaution and will continue to work on his fitness.

Iron boss Simon Cox confirmed most of those who featured in the 1-0 Carabao Cup loss at Barrow came out of the game with no further injuries. Myles Hippolyte and Alex Kenyon picked up slight knocks but both are expected to be involved on Saturday.

Tyrone O’Neill (knee), Ross Millen (hamstring) and Aaron Jarvis (fitness) will not be available.

Goalkeeper Tom Billson was taken off at half-time in their opening day defeat to Swindon and is expected to miss out, although his injury is not as serious as first feared.