Mansfield take on high-flying Grimsby in a local derby in Sky Bet League Two

Mansfield take on the tough challenge of facing Grimsby Town at Blundell Park in hunt of finally kick-starting their season.

The home side for this game, Grimsby Town, currently sit in seventh place in Sky Bet League Two with local rivals Mansfield all the way down in 19th. The Mariners have eight more points then Mansfield and are unbeaten in their last two league games with the Stags failing to record a win since Scunthorpe at home at the start of September.

Team news

The Stags will be without goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik after the shot-stopper dislocated a finger last week.

The clash will also come too soon for forwards Craig Davies and Jordan Graham.

Wing-back Hayden White could feature, having returned to training late this week after missing last Saturday’s loss to Plymouth through illness.

Grimsby will be without defender Ludvig Öhman.

Michael Jolley praises Grimsby Town’s squad depth ahead of Saturday’s Sky Bet League Two clash with Mansfield Town:

“So it’s difficult for us to select the team for any game, and there are always disappointed people who aren’t in the team. But we try to make sure that everybody’s got a route back into the team.

“And if they can push those who are starting the games then that will help everybody. We’ve always selected a team that we think gives us the best chance of winning every game so there’s no new approach with that.

“We think we’ve got a good balance to the squad and good options within it. And different players give us different slants on how we’re going to play, so it’s definitely a case that everybody can contribute from within the squad.”

Manager John Dempster spoke openly and honestly in Tuesday morning’s news conference, adding that he wants to give the supporters of Mansfield Town a ‘team to be proud of.’

“We were disappointed with the result on Saturday [against Plymouth]but the group have come back [to training]in a positive mood,” he began.

“They’re a group who care who care about the current situation and we know that results haven’t been good enough.

“Although performance levels have been better, we take full responsibility that results need to follow. It’s okay to talk about performance, but we’re in a results business and as of Saturday we need to start picking up results.”

Head-to-head

In the last five outings, Mansfield have emerged victorious on three occasions with Grimsby winning once and also drawing one game.

columns]

[/columns]