Walsall 1 Scunthorpe 4 - Report and pictures

The former Blackburn winger took his tally for the season to 11 as the League One leaders showed their promotion credentials with an organised and dominant display.

Morris scored twice in the first-half and once after the interval with Neal Bishop the other man on target for Graham Alexander's side.

After falling 2-0 down, Jon Whitney's men looked to have got themselves back into the game when Erhun Oztumer pulled one back on the strike of half-time.

But the Iron proved too strong with Alexander's side running out deserved winners.

In naming his starting line-up, boss Whitney made one enforced and one tactical change from the side that secured a 1-1 draw at Peterborough.

With on-loan Scott Laird ineligible to play against his parent club, Liam Kinsella came in at right-back with Jason McCarthy switching to left-back.

The other change came in midfield where Isaiah Osbourne replaced Andreas Makris as the Saddlers reverted back to their favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.

For Scunthorpe, Sam Mantom returned to the Banks's Stadium for the first team since opting to leave the club in the summer in favour of a move to the Iron.

Graham Alexander's side arrived having lost just one of their opening nine games in League One.

And the visitors were presented with a glorious chance to opening the scoring inside 30 seconds when Kevin Toner's back-pass didn't have enough legs to reach Neil Etheridge.

Winger Duane Holmes latched onto the loose ball but the American screwed his strike wide when he should have done better.

Scunthorpe had started brightly and they took the lead in the 10^th minute when Kinsella was judged to have handled the ball following a corner.

Morris stepped up to take the resultant spot-kick and calmly placed the ball in the top right corner.

Within 60 seconds, Walsall's bad start got even worse when they cheaply lost possession in midfield and allowed the Iron to break forward at pace.

One through-ball split the Saddlers back-line and sent Tom Hopper galloping in on goal. And while Etheridge managed to block the striker's effort – the ball broke kindly for Morris who tapped home for his second goal in as many minutes.

Walsall simply hadn't got going as the half reached the midway point - with a distance strike from Kieron Morris their only sight of goal.

Scunthorpe meanwhile continued to look dangerous and they almost made it 3-0 on the half hour when Hooper got himself in-behind Toner following a long ball.

Fortunately for the Villa loanee, James O'Connor was on hand to spare his team-mates blushes and expertly block the striker's effort from 12-yards.

Whitney's men hit back and finally asked a question of the league leaders when Simone Jackson saw a shot well blocked after the forward had latched onto a McCarthy cut-back.

Alexander's side had looked strong, disciplined and in control as the half-time whistle approached.

But out of nothing, Whitney's men got themselves back into the game when Oztumer tricked and turned his way past Richie Smallwood before spectacularly firing home from 20-yards.

Incredibly, Walsall should have then pulled themselves level inside two minutes of stoppage time when Oztumer burst into the box and squared to Jackson.

The Canadian international worked himself space by allowing the ball to roll across his body, but his low strike was blocked by the legs of Luke Daniels when the striker really should have scored.

Walsall came back out after the interval having done incredibly well to give themselves a route back into the game.

But two minutes into the second half they managed to undo their hard work with Osbourne failing to clear his lines and Bishop arrowing a drive into the bottom right corner from 25-yards.

Whitney responded by switching Amadou Bakayoko and Franck Moussa for Cuvelier and Osbourne.

But the Saddlers were then given a big let off when Holmes collected the ball inside the box only for the linesman to signal for offside.

As everyone stopped, the assistant referee suddenly dropped his flag with the winger – who was stood on the penalty spot ­– hitting a fierce strike which Etheridge did well to beat away.

Whitney made his third change with a little over 15 minutes remaining, Andreas Makris replacing Kieron Morris.

But the Iron were managing the game expertly and they should have extended their lead further when an unmarked David Mirfin rose highest from a corner only to power a header wide.

Shortly before the end though, Alexander's side did make it four. Mantom and Hooper combined to work find Morris in the area with the former Blackburn man curling home a sweet strike to secure his hat-trick.

In stoppage time, Walsall thought they had pulled another back but Bakayoko's header was ruled out for offside after he nodded home a Makris strike which hit the bar.