YOU could forgive David Hodgson for staring across to old pal Brian Laws slightly green-eyed this afternoon.

While the Darlington boss takes stock of a squad dictated by administration, Laws' only concern rests with how well his latest acquisition will fit in to his league leading team.

And just to rub salt into the wounds, a player Hodgson had the chance to sign will line up against his side this afternoon.

Rangers striker Tom Brighton will make his debut after joining the Iron on loan this week, just days after discussions had taken place between the players' agent, Kevin Drinkell, and Hodgson.

Under Football League regulations Quakers cannot exceed a 20-man squad limit whilst they are in administration.

And with 20 players already at his disposal, Hodgson must wait until the Football League accepts the club's proposal to come out of administration - scheduled for September 7.

"That date is not set in stone and until it is we can't really reach any agreement with the players we want to bring in," said Hodgson.

"We've had one or two players in the pipeline but until we know for definite when we come out of administration there's nothing much we can do about it.

"I spoke to Kevin Drinkell last week and he told me that Tom Brighton could come down from Rangers.

"I have not read anything that is signed to say that we are coming out of administration then.

"For that reason I cannot approach a club about a player, without giving assurances that we can actually bring them in.

"It's difficult but we have to accept the situation we are in and get on with it."

After a turbulent last season, in which Laws was sacked before being re-instated following a boardroom shake-up, the Iron have made an impressive start under the former Middlesbrough defender after finishing third bottom last season.

Unbeaten in August, Laws scooped the League Two manager-of-the-month award this week after guiding his side to the top of the table.

He said: "Lawsy has signed four or five new players in the summer. He's been quite fortunate in that he's been able to go out and get the players he wanted."

However, Hodgson remains unfazed, saying: "It's a big game for them and although they are unbeaten it has to come to an end at some point.

"They have made a great start and I'm sure it will be tough. That is irrelevant to us and it is important that we concentrate on our own game.

"We have more than a good chance of beating Scunthorpe and if there are any of my players in the dressing room who think any different they won't be in the team."

Hodgson will be hopeful of seeing his side build on last weekend's Bank Holiday programme, in which Quakers took four points - with a 3-0 win at Chester and 1-1 draw at home to Cambridge - to move up to 11th in the table.

He said: "I don't think our performance matched the result at Chester. We never really dominated but managed to score three goals.

"I had the lads in the day after and I made a big point about that, regardless of the result, the performance was not acceptable.

"Against Cambridge I thought we dealt with them very well and I think we had enough opportunities to get ourselves in front.

"I was pleased with the way we stepped up a gear after we fell a goal behind. We got the goal back and could easily have gone on to win it."

Defender-cum-striker Matt Clarke is fit to start, despite picking up a head injury in Monday's draw with Cambridge, as Hodgson has a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Veteran winger Peter Beagrie - linked with a move to Quakers in the summer - is ruled out with a hamstring injury, with Brighton expected to take up his role on the left-wing.

On-loan Leeds youngster Andrew Keogh will continue in attack alongside Paul Hayes.

Keogh will be remembered by Quakers fans after scoring for Leeds in a 4-2 win at the then-Reynolds Arena in July. It was on the strength of that performance that Laws decided to take him to Glanford Park.

Striker Steve Torpey (knee) and Kevin Sharpe (ankle) remain sidelined for the visitors.

Read more about Darlington here.