Get to know 'em - Grimsby

How has your season started?

We started the season as hot favourites to win the division but if our first three games are anything to go by we're hardly promotion quality. We came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in our first game of the season against our Lincolnshire rivals Boston United in the season's curtain opener. For the first hour we were dire but we improved when youngster Peter Bore came on to the pitch. He score two and Isaiah Rankin got the other. Sadly we haven't been able to carry on that fighting spirit through the next two games, losing 3-0 to Wrexham and 1-0 to Bristol Rovers (the goal was clearly offside but refereeing has been terrible for a long time now so it was to be expected). We now down in 17th place in the league so we have a lot of work to do if we are to get back up the league and into the promotion spots.

Are you more or less optomistic of a good season than you were before the season started?

When Russell Slade departed and the club promoted assistant Graham Rodger to the hotseat the town was full of optimism. There were some who thought we should have brought in a high profile manager but stability was the idea. Although Rodger has brought in some quality players, that optimism is dwindling as they haven't yet gelled on the pitch.

Who will be your main threat on Friday?

Ourselves! Individual errors in the Boston and Wrexam games were the reason we lost both games so we need to be more alert to handle difficult situations to avoid another upset on Friday. As for the Mansfield team we've been paying attention to Stephen Dawson. He seems to be the best player on the team at the moment, he played great last Saturday so we'll have to keep an eye on him.

Why has the game been moved to a Friday?

A couple of years ago the club had a strange idea that if they moved some games to Friday night as opposed to Saturday afternoon more fans are likely to arrive at the turnstiles. A lot of football fans would rather sit in front of the TV on a Saturday afternoon and watch a Premiership game or sit watching the results some up rather than watch Grimsby play at Blundell Park so games were moved to Friday night so that the fans had the best of both worlds. Going on last season's attendance that plan hasn't worked as the Friday attendances are lower than Saturdays but the club still insist on playing several Friday games a season.

Who has the manager brought in in the summer, and how have they performed?

We lost quite a few players in the summer and we haven't fully replaced them yet. We have brought in goalkeeper Phil Barnes from Sheffield United. He's not a bad player but he's shipped six goals in three games so far so he's not had the best of starts. We also signed striker Isaiah Rankin who scored in the season opener but has fired blanks in the previous two. Gary Harkins joined us from Blackburn, Peter Beagrie arrives from Scunthorpe, both are good players.

Score prediction

I've got to remain optimistic despite a poor run of form so I will say 2-1 to Grimsby although Mansfield are a good team and a draw is probably a more likely outcome.

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